A packager fills ketchup and expresses the nominal quantity in grams. Germany prefers milliliters. What should the packager do?

The general rule is simple: liquid products should be indicated in a unit of volume (ml, cl, or l), while all other products should be indicated in mass (g or kg).

It is the exceptions in the e-marking Directive that complicate matters: if a Member State has regulations that prescribe otherwise, or if there is a trade tradition that differs, the packager must follow that requirement.

It is not clear which trade traditions exist, and sometimes the regulations in Member States are different. This is the case with ketchup. In such instances, packagers sometimes express the nominal quantity in both units. One is the “mandatory” unit, and the other is the “non-mandatory” unit in one country and vice versa.

Both the “mandatory” and “non-mandatory” nominal quantities must be accurate. If there is an e-marking, it applies to both nominal quantities, even if the e-marking is clearly associated with one of the nominal quantities. All these quantities must be included in the e-marking recognition.

In combination with a multipack, there can be up to 4 nominal quantities indicated on a prepackaging!