2.8.5. ‘Dual quality’ marketing

The free movement of goods does not necessarily mean that every product must be identical in every corner of the Single Market. Whilst consumers are free to buy the products of their choice, business operators are also free to market and sell goods with different composition or characteristics, provided that they fully respect EU legislation (whether on the safety of products, labelling or other horizontal or sectoral legislation). However, as laid down in recital 52 of Directive (EU) 2019/2161, marketing across Member States of goods as being identical when, in reality, they have a significantly different composition or characteristics may mislead consumers and cause them to take a transactional decision that they would not have taken otherwise. Such marketing practices are often referred to as ‘dual quality’. Therefore, Directive (EU) 2019/2161 introduced in the UCPD a specific provision (Article 6(2)(c)) to address situations where traders market goods in different Member States as being identical whilst in reality they have significant differences in terms of their composition or characteristics, unless justified by legitimate and objective factors. The application of Article 6(2)(c) is based on the objective and apparent circumstances of the presentation and composition or characteristics of the goods concerned. Article 6(2)(c) of the UCPD clarifies the application of the UCPD to misleading ‘dual quality’ marketing practices and provides the national consumer enforcement authorities with a clearer and more specific legal basis to address such misleading practices. This guidance replaces and supersedes the 2017 Commission Notice regarding the application of the (original) UCPD to ‘dual quality’ of food (178).

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.