Government wants the furniture trade's evidence on Digital Product Records by 21 September

The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade is seeking input on Digital Product Records to shape future UK policy and to gauge the potential effects on businesses, consumers and supply chains.

The Call for Evidence asks whether a UK policy framework for Digital Product Records could streamline how product information is distributed while improving transparency and traceability for consumers and for market surveillance bodies.

A Digital Product Record could hold safety information, composition details, sustainability metrics and end-of-life guidance, including refurbishment, repair and reuse. The Government presents the measure as supporting product circularity and wider sustainability goals, and as part of a broader effort to digitalise compliance for businesses and consumers.

“We encourage all our Members to submit their own responses to ensure the views of the furniture sector are fully represented.”

— FIRA

The EU has already begun implementing a comparable requirement through Digital Product Passports under its Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.

Ahead of the deadline FIRA hosted a free webinar on 15 September with Chris Hayward, General Manager of FIRA, journalist Matthew Valentine as moderator, Joanna Knight, Chair of the FISP Steering Group, Tristine Hargreaves, Executive Director of the National Bed Federation, and Dr Dorothy Maxwell, Principal and Head of Sustainability at The Sustainable Business Group.

“Taking part in the UK government's Call for Evidence is an opportunity for our industry to shape policy that works for it.”

— Chris Hayward, General Manager, FIRA

Deadline for responses: 11:59 pm, Monday 21 September 2026. FIRA contact: John Hubbard, info@fira.co.uk.

Respond to the Call for Evidence on gov.uk

Editor's note

If you make, repair or reupholster furniture and have never answered a Government consultation, this is the one to answer. The record that ends up attached to a sofa or a mattress will be filled in by the people who make it, and the questions asked now decide how much of that work lands on a small workshop.