Blog · 28 August 2026 · 6 min read
EU Guarantee Notice or GARAN label: which one does your shop need?
Regulation (EU) 2025/1960 introduces two pieces of official artwork at once, and they are routinely confused — including in vendor marketing. They are not two versions of the same thing. One is about a right every consumer already has; the other is about a promise a producer chooses to make.
The short answer
| Harmonised notice | GARAN label | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is about | The legal guarantee of conformity — the statutory right consumers already have | A commercial guarantee of durability — a voluntary promise by the producer |
| Where it applies | At shop level | Per product |
| Who it reaches | Traders selling goods to consumers in the EU | Only products for which such a guarantee is actually offered |
| Is it optional? | No, where it applies | The guarantee is optional; labelling it is not, once offered |
| Typical shop | Essentially every consumer shop | A minority — mostly durable goods with a producer's durability promise |
Why the confusion is so common
Both visuals arrive in the same Regulation, on the same date, from the same Commission, and both are about "guarantees". In English the word does double duty: the legal guarantee of conformity is a statutory right, while a commercial guarantee of durability is a marketing promise. German keeps them further apart — Gewährleistung against Garantie — which helps, but the two labels still sit next to each other in every summary of the Regulation.
The practical consequence of mixing them up runs in both directions. A merchant who thinks the GARAN label is mandatory goes looking for a producer durability guarantee they do not have. A merchant who thinks the notice is as narrow as GARAN concludes it does not apply to them, and misses an obligation that does.
The harmonised notice, in one paragraph
It informs consumers that a legal guarantee of conformity exists. That right is not created by this Regulation — it comes from EU consumer sales law and has been in force for years. What the Regulation adds is a duty to display a standard notice about it, prominently and at shop level, from 27 September 2026, in the consumer's language, using the Commission's own artwork. It follows from selling goods to consumers, not from what you sell. For most shops this is the one that matters.
The GARAN label, in one paragraph
It marks a commercial guarantee of durability — a producer's promise that a particular product will keep working for a stated period, beyond anything the law requires. If no such guarantee is offered, there is nothing to label. Where one is offered, the label communicates it in a standard form, per product, so shoppers can compare like with like instead of parsing marketing copy. It is the Regulation's answer to durability claims, not to statutory rights.
How to decide, in practice
- Do you sell goods to consumers in the EU? If yes, the harmonised notice is your baseline obligation and shop-level work.
- Does a producer offer a durability guarantee on any product you sell? Not a warranty handled by your own returns process, and not a general quality claim — a durability guarantee, for a stated period, attributable to the producer.
- If yes, the GARAN label becomes relevant for those products, per product, alongside — not instead of — the notice.
Most catalogues stop at step one. That is the normal outcome, not a sign you have missed something.
What this means for a Magento shop
The two obligations have almost nothing in common technically, which is exactly why they should not be one extension. The notice is shop-level: a handful of placements, 24 languages, per-store-view scoping, and then it is done. The label is product-level: attribute data per product, per producer guarantee, rendered on the product page and wherever products are listed — much closer to how you already handle energy labels than to how you handle a footer link.
We build them separately for that reason. EU Guarantee Notice covers the shop-level obligation that reaches nearly everyone; the GARAN label is a separate extension for the minority of catalogues that need it.
This article explains how we read Regulation (EU) 2025/1960 while building an extension for it. It is not legal advice. Whether, when and where the notice applies to your business remains your responsibility, and is worth confirming with a qualified adviser.