--- title: "Our packaging uses non-metric units" description: "Directive 80/181/EEC requires indications of quantity to be expressed in the legal units of Chapter I of its Annex, the SI units and their multiples. Ounces, pounds, inches or fluid ounces may appear only as supplementary indications accompanying the metric value, in characters no larger than it. A few imperial units stay legal for specific uses where authorised on 21 April 1973. Relabel packs that show only non-metric quantities." type: "problem" url: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/units-of-measurement/" markdown: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/units-of-measurement.md" locale: "en" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-04" author: "Conphora compliance team" publisher: "Conphora" source: "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:01980L0181-20200613" tags: ["UoMD", "labelling-packaging"] license: "Free to quote with attribution and a link to the page" --- # Our packaging uses non-metric units Directive 80/181/EEC requires indications of quantity to be expressed in the legal units of Chapter I of its Annex, the SI units and their multiples. Ounces, pounds, inches or fluid ounces may appear only as supplementary indications accompanying the metric value, in characters no larger than it. A few imperial units stay legal for specific uses where authorised on 21 April 1973. Relabel packs that show only non-metric quantities. ## Why this happens Directive 80/181/EEC fixes which units of measurement may be used in the EU. The legal units for expressing quantities are those in Chapter I of its Annex: the SI base units, such as the second, the metre, the kilogram, the ampere and the kelvin, their decimal multiples and submultiples, and the other units listed in that chapter (Article 1(a)). The obligation relates to measuring instruments used, measurements made and indications of quantity expressed in units of measurement (Article 2(a)). The Member States have applied the directive since 1 October 1981 (Article 7), and the consolidated text includes the 2019 update of the SI definitions by Commission Directive (EU) 2019/1258. [1] Imperial units are allowed only beside the metric value. A supplementary indication is an indication of quantity in a unit not in Chapter I that accompanies an indication in a Chapter I unit, and its use is authorised (Article 3(1) and (2)). The Chapter I indication must predominate: indications in other units are expressed in characters no larger than those of the corresponding Chapter I indication (Article 3(4)). Member States may still require measuring instruments to show a single legal unit (Article 3(3)). [1] A few non-metric units survive as legal units in their own right, but only for named uses and only in the Member States where they were authorised on 21 April 1973 (Article 1(b)). Chapter II lists them: the mile, yard, foot and inch for road traffic signs and distance and speed measurement, the pint for draught beer and cider and for milk in returnable containers, and the troy ounce for transactions in precious metals. The time-limited units in Chapters III and IV could not be used beyond 31 December 1994 and 31 December 1999 respectively (Article 1(c) and (d)). [1] Prepackaged goods have additional rules. Directive 76/211/EEC covers prepackages sold in constant nominal quantities between 5 g or 5 ml and 10 kg or 10 l (Article 1). Prepackages that comply with it may bear the ℮ sign (Article 3(1)); they show the nominal weight or volume in kilograms, grams, litres, centilitres or millilitres, in figures at least 2 to 6 mm high depending on the quantity, and imperial markings may not be larger than the SI ones (Annex I point 3.1). The ℮, which the directive describes as a small ‘e’ in the form shown in Directive 71/316/EEC, is at least 3 mm high and stands in the same field of vision as the nominal quantity; a mark identifies the packer or the importer established in the EU, who is responsible for ensuring the prepackages meet the directive (Annex I points 3.2, 3.3 and 4). The Court has held that a packer who measures each prepackage may use the sign without prior authorisation, while a packer who only checks the quantities must use checking procedures recognised by the national weights and measures authorities (Case 96/84). [2] [4] Both directives are listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, so market surveillance authorities can require corrective action where packaging does not conform, including the rectification of formal non-compliance, and can have products withdrawn or their sale restricted when corrective action is not taken (Article 16). [3] ## How to solve it 1. **List every indication of quantity** Go through the packaging, the product, the inserts and the product page and list every stated quantity: weight, volume, length, area, temperature, energy. The directive covers indications of quantity expressed in units of measurement, as well as measuring instruments used and measurements made. 2. **Express each quantity in a Chapter I unit** Use the legal units in Chapter I of the Annex: the SI base units such as the metre, the kilogram and the second, their decimal multiples and submultiples, and the other units listed there. Convert ounces to grams, fluid ounces to millilitres and inches to millimetres or centimetres. 3. **Keep imperial units only as smaller supplementary indications** A supplementary indication in another unit may accompany the metric value. The metric value must predominate: the non-metric indication is in characters no larger than the corresponding metric one. A pack showing ‘16 oz’ alone, or ‘16 oz’ in larger print than ‘454 g’, does not meet the rule. 4. **Check the narrow exceptions** Chapter II allows a few units for specific uses only, and only in the Member States where they were authorised on 21 April 1973: the mile, yard, foot and inch for road traffic signs and distance and speed measurement, the pint for draught beer and cider and milk in returnable containers, and the troy ounce for precious metals. 5. **Apply the prepackage rules if you use the ℮** For prepackages of 5 g or 5 ml to 10 kg or 10 l sold in constant nominal quantities, the nominal quantity is marked in kilograms, grams, litres, centilitres or millilitres, with minimum figure heights from 2 to 6 mm. The directive does not make the ℮ compulsory; if used, it is at least 3 mm high, in the same field of vision, and the packer or importer is identified on the pack. A packer that checks rather than measures each pack needs checking procedures recognised by the national authorities. ## What you need to show - **Packaging artwork with the metric quantity and any smaller supplementary indications** — The manufacturer or the brand owner (Directive 80/181/EEC Articles 1(a) and 3(1), (2) and (4)) - **Filling and checking records for prepackages carrying the ℮** — The packer or the importer (Directive 76/211/EEC Article 3 and Annex I points 1, 3 and 4) ## If you do nothing - **National rules enforce the directive** — Directive 80/181/EEC is addressed to the Member States, which have applied its provisions since 1 October 1981 through national law; the legal units are those of the Annex (Directive 80/181/EEC Articles 1 and 7). - **Market surveillance measures apply** — Directives 80/181/EEC and 76/211/EEC are listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020; where a product does not conform, authorities require corrective action, including rectifying formal non-compliance, and can have the product withdrawn or its sale prohibited (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 Article 16(1)–(3) and (5)). - **The ℮ sign brings metrological control** — Prepackages bearing the ℮ sign are subject to metrological control under Annex I point 5 and Annex II, and no prepackage with a negative error above twice the tolerable negative error may bear the sign (Directive 76/211/EEC Article 3(2) and Annex I point 1.3). ## Questions ### Can we keep ‘oz’ on the pack? Yes, as a supplementary indication next to the metric quantity, provided the metric indication predominates and the ‘oz’ figure is no larger (Directive 80/181/EEC Article 3(1), (2) and (4)). ### Does the rule apply to a product page as well? The directive applies to indications of quantity expressed in units of measurement (Article 2(a)) and names no medium. Reading it as covering quantities on a product page is an interpretation, not stated in the text; national law may say more. ### Is the ℮ mark compulsory? The directive does not make it compulsory. Directive 76/211/EEC says which prepackages may bear the sign: those that comply with that directive and its Annex I (Article 3(1)). If you use it, the filling rules and controls apply, and a packer that only checks the quantity, rather than measuring each pack, must operate checking procedures recognised by the national authorities (Case 96/84). ### What about products already in use with imperial parts? Non-legal units remain authorised for products and equipment already on the market or in service on the date the directive was adopted, 20 December 1979, and for spare components and parts needed for them (Directive 80/181/EEC Article 4). ## Regulations involved UoMD ## Sources 1. [Council Directive 80/181/EEC on units of measurement (consolidated text of 13 June 2020)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:01980L0181-20200613) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04 2. [Council Directive 76/211/EEC on the making-up by weight or by volume of certain prepackaged products (consolidated text of 26 July 2019)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:01976L0211-20190726) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04 3. [Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products (consolidated text of 12 August 2026)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02019R1020-20260812) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04 4. [Judgment of the Court of 28 March 1985, Vereniging Slachtpluimvee-Export v Rewe-Zentral, Case 96/84](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:61984CJ0096) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04