Subject matter and traders concerned
Article 6(2)(c) applies only to ‘goods’, which are not defined in the UCPD. The UCPD applies to ‘products’ broadly defined as comprising goods, services and digital content. Therefore, the definition of ‘goods’ in the Sale of Goods Directive (EU) 2019/771 should be applied by analogy. Accordingly, ‘goods’ mean tangible movable items as well as water, gas and electricity in limited volume or set quantity. Consequently, Article 6(2)(c) does not apply to services and digital content, which remain subject to the general UCPD rules on misleading actions or omissions. ‘Dual quality’ marketing practices present most problems in the area of food (including drinks. However, Article 6(2)(c) of the UCPD applies also to other kinds of goods. Article 6(2)(c) applies to ‘marketing’ which is a broad notion including both the presentation of the goods on their packaging, related advertising, and promotions and the selling of the goods to consumers. The primary target group of Article 6(2)(c) are the traders that determine the presentation and composition of the goods concerned. Those are usually the producers, including the owners of ‘private’ labels and retailer brands. The enforcement activities concerning Article 6(2)(c) should, therefore primarily focus on the producers of goods. Mere retailers do not usually have influence on either the composition or the packaging of the goods they sell. Notwithstanding this, once the fact of misleading ‘dual quality’ practices is established with regard to a specific good, the enforcement authorities may also require remedial action from the retailers selling the good in question. In particular, they may require retailers to provide consumers with additional information at the point of sale, thus ensuring that consumers are made aware that the good concerned is not actually identical to the good sold in other countries. As the UCPD does not apply to business-to-business (B2B) relations, it does not regulate the consequences of such enforcement actions in the context of the B2B contractual relations between the retailers and producers. Due to the cross-border nature of ‘dual quality’ cases, the competent authorities must, where applicable, cooperate under the CPC Regulation (EU) 2017/2394. In particular, the CPC Regulation establishes clear mutual assistance obligations between competent authorities to ensure that the authorities of the Member State where the trader is established take the necessary measures to cease infringements which affect consumers in other jurisdictions of the Union.
Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.