Maker.
Material.
Method. Place.
Provenance is the documented and verifiable chain connecting a tangible product or object to its materials or ingredients, maker or producer, place and method of production; the lineage through which the knowledge and skills required to make it were acquired and transmitted; and its subsequent distribution, ownership, custody and use, together with its documented oral histories and cultural meanings. A provenance registry records these connections, their supporting evidence and any gaps, disputes or uncertainty.
Provenance begins with the making.
Provenance is the documented and verifiable chain connecting a tangible product or object to its materials or ingredients, maker or producer, place and method of production; the lineage through which the knowledge and skills required to make it were acquired and transmitted; and its subsequent distribution, ownership, custody and use, together with its documented oral histories and cultural meanings. A provenance registry records these connections, their supporting evidence and any gaps, disputes or uncertainty.
Practitioner and product provenance is distinct from geographical indication protection. A GI is a collective place-name right with its own producer group, Product Specification, controls and legal pathway.
Unique Provenance Identifier
A persistent identifier assigned to a verified practitioner record. It can connect that practitioner to product, certification and provenance data without certifying every product claim.
↗02Maker’s Mark
The product-facing expression of a practitioner’s UPI, applied to or securely associated with the product, packaging, documentation or provenance record.
↗03Product provenance record
A record for a work, edition, batch or product line: makers or producers, materials, method, production stages, place, evidence and subsequent custody or use.
↗04Digital Product Passport readiness
Structured product information that can be reused across market, procurement, repair, circularity, export and emerging regulatory systems.
↗Maker → work → place.
The Mapping report proposes a verified national registry architecture. The current CWA pathway is the operational sector-developed service and relies on the declarations and evidence supplied by each applicant.
Practitioner and product records can contribute evidence for future collective origin claims, but do not themselves create a geographical indication.
Current service portal. ACA information and guidance sit on this site. Until the independent transaction system is migrated, secure applications and payments continue through the CWA Secretariat portal and open in a new tab.
One record. Many uses.
Digital Product Passports are an emerging market-access and product-information capability. They can carry structured information about identity, composition, production, compliance, repair and circularity as product-specific requirements develop.
The ACA approach treats the DPP as one use of a strong provenance record. It does not replace authorship, cultural authority, craftsmanship assessment or the evidence behind a geographical-origin claim.
Current service portal. ACA information and guidance sit on this site. Until the independent transaction system is migrated, secure applications and payments continue through the CWA Secretariat portal and open in a new tab.
Place can become protected value.
Learn how geographical indications and the EU’s CIGI framework can protect collective reputation and origin.
Explore GIs & CIGIs