EU mandates sellers to display legal guarantee notices in shops and online

Since 27 September 2026, every business that sells goods to consumers in the EU has had to display a new, standard piece of information before the sale, in a physical shop and online. This guide explains what the law actually is, who it hits, what exactly has to be shown and where, and how to fix it if you have not done it yet.

What the law says

Directive (EU) 2024/825, the “empowering consumers for the green transition” directive, amends the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC). Two of its rules are about guarantees:

1. The harmonised legal guarantee notice. Consumers have a two-year legal guarantee of conformity on goods everywhere in the EU. Traders must now remind them of it, before they buy, using a fixed EU notice.
2. The harmonised durability label. Where a producer offers a commercial guarantee of durability — free of charge, covering the whole good, for longer than two years — the product has to carry the official label showing the duration. The label is called GARAN, and the name has stuck.

Member States had to write the rules into national law by 27 March 2026, and they apply from 27 September 2026. The exact wording, colours and layout of both items are fixed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960. You cannot redesign them, recolour them or paraphrase them. Both carry a QR code that leads consumers to more detail on the Your Europe portal.

The same directive also bans generic environmental claims — “eco-friendly”, “green”, “climate neutral” — unless the trader can back them up. If your product copy is full of them, this is a good excuse for a clean-up.

Who has to display them

• Any trader selling physical goods to consumers in an EU member state — in a shop, at a market stall, on a website, on a marketplace. The channel is irrelevant, and so is where the business is based: if you sell to EU consumers, you are in scope.
• Second-hand goods are not exempt. They are treated like new goods.
• Not affected: B2B sales, services and digital content. Private sellers who are not traders are out of scope too.

Notice versus label: the difference that matters

	Legal guarantee notice	GARAN durability label
Applies to	All goods sold to EU consumers	Only products with a free producer guarantee longer than 2 years
What it says	Reminder of the 2-year legal guarantee	The duration of the commercial guarantee
Where	Prominently, before the purchase	With the product
Per product?	No, general	Yes

Most shops only need the notice. The label kicks in in categories where producers commonly stand behind their products for five or ten years: electronics, appliances, furniture, tools and outdoor gear.

Where each one has to appear

The duty is to inform the consumer before they are bound by the contract.

• In a physical shop. Displayed prominently. The Commission’s own example is a poster in an eye-catching spot on a wall or next to the checkout counter.
• Online. The notice works as a general reminder on the website and as information on the way to purchase — product pages and the cart or checkout path. Everything shown online must be in colour.
• The GARAN label. In a shop, the printed label is at least 95 × 100 mm. Online it may be shown in a nested format: a small version that opens in full on the first click, hover or tap.
• Language. Show the official version for every language you sell in. All 24 official translations are published and free to use — unaltered.

Enforcement

Enforcement is national, and it is real. In Germany, competitors and consumer associations can send warning letters (Abmahnung) for missing mandatory information under unfair-competition law. Elsewhere, consumer authorities issue fines that for serious cases can reach a percentage of annual turnover. The notice is visible to anyone who looks, and the people who send warning letters look.

How to comply

If you have a physical shop

1. Download the official notice artwork for each language you sell in. Print it and put it in a prominent spot — next to the checkout is the textbook placement.
2. Check which of your products carry a producer durability guarantee of more than two years. For those, print the GARAN label with the correct duration, brand and model identifier (minimum 95 × 100 mm) and place it with the product.
3. If a producer updates the guarantee, update the label.

If you sell online

1. Add the notice to your product pages and to the path to checkout, in the language of each storefront, using the official artwork in colour.
2. Add the GARAN label next to every applicable product. A nested display is allowed: the full label must appear on the first click or hover.
3. Remove or substantiate generic green claims in your product copy.
4. Keep a record of the date you went live, and re-check after any redesign.

Platform-by-platform implementation

1. WooCommerce / WordPress

If you run WooCommerce, you can add the legal notice directly to your single product pages using your child theme’s functions.php or a code snippet plugin (e.g. WPCode):

/**
 * Display EU Legal Guarantee Notice on WooCommerce product pages
 * Hooked right above the Add-to-Cart button
 */
add_action( 'woocommerce_before_add_to_cart_button', function() {
    // URL to your uploaded notice image (e.g. in /wp-content/uploads/)
    $notice_url = '/wp-content/uploads/eu-notice-en.jpg';
    ?>
    <div class="eu-guarantee-notice-wrap" style="margin: 1rem 0; max-width: 380px;">
        <img src="<?php echo esc_url( $notice_url ); ?>" 
             alt="EU Legal Guarantee Notice (2-year conformity reminder)" 
             style="width: 100%; height: auto; border-radius: 6px; box-shadow: 0 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);" 
             loading="lazy" />
    </div>
    <?php
}, 15 );

For multilingual WooCommerce stores (WPML or Polylang), check the current language before rendering $notice_url so German visitors receive the German notice, French visitors receive the French notice, and so forth.

2. Shopify

Shopify merchants have two options:

• Automated via app (recommended): Capyo: EU Warranty GARAN Label automatically injects the official notice and GARAN label via native theme app extensions, follows storefront languages automatically across all 24 official EU translations, and lets you set guarantee durations per product or in bulk. Setup takes about two minutes.
• Manual theme section: Upload the official notice image to Shopify Admin → Content → Files, then insert an Image block in the Theme Editor on your Default Product template immediately above the Buy buttons. See our in-depth walkthrough: How to comply with EU Directive 2024/825 on Shopify.

3. Custom HTML / Headless / Shopware

For custom codebases or headless storefronts, insert a semantic <aside> container in your product detail layout:

<aside class="eu-guarantee-notice" aria-label="EU Legal Guarantee Notice">
  <a href="https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/index_en.htm" 
     target="_blank" 
     rel="noopener noreferrer">
    <img src="/assets/eu-notice-en.jpg" 
         alt="EU Legal Guarantee of Conformity Notice" 
         width="380" 
         height="537" 
         loading="lazy" />
  </a>
</aside>

Free EU Compliance Tools

We built 4 free browser-based tools to help merchants comply without signing up or installing anything:

Checklist

1. Confirm you sell goods to EU consumers.
2. Display the legal guarantee notice prominently, in every language you sell in: product pages and the checkout path online, a prominent spot in a shop.
3. List products with a producer durability guarantee longer than two years. Show the GARAN label with the correct duration.
4. Search your product copy for generic green claims and remove or substantiate them.
5. Write down the date you went live.
6. Re-check after any redesign or platform change.

Frequently asked questions

I only sell to the UK or the US — does this apply to me? Only if you sell to consumers in the EU. Shipping into the EU from outside does not exempt you.

Can I write or translate the notice myself? No. Use the official artwork and the official translations. Paraphrasing is the same as not showing it.

I sell on a marketplace — is this my problem? The duty sits on the trader. Check what your platform provides, but the responsibility to display the notice stays with you as the seller.

Does the label cover my own store guarantee? No. The GARAN label covers a commercial guarantee of durability offered by the producer, free of charge and for the whole good. A seller’s own extended warranty is a different thing.

We already state “2-year warranty” somewhere. Is that enough? No. The harmonised notice is a fixed artwork; a sentence in your terms does not replace it.

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This page summarises Directive (EU) 2024/825 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960 for information only. It is not legal advice.