| Sign: | ℮ |
The estimated sign, , also referred to as the e-mark or (French: French: quantité estimée) can be found on most prepackaged products in the European Union (EU). Its use indicates that the prepackage fulfils EU Directive 76/211/EEC, which specifies the maximum permitted tolerances in package content.
The shape and dimensions of the e-mark are defined in EU Directive 2009/34/EC. The e-mark is also used on prepackages in the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa.
The estimated sign indicates that:
The scope of the directive is limited to prepackages that have a predetermined nominal weight of between 5 g and 10 kg or volume of 5 ml and 10 L, are filled without the purchaser present, and in which the quantity cannot be altered without opening or destroying the packing material.
The sign looks like a stylised lowercase "e" and its shape,, is precisely defined by the European Union Directive 2009/34/EC. It must be placed in the same field of vision as the nominal quantity. The sign has been added to the Unicode list of characters as .
Error tolerance decreases as nominal quantity increases, by alternating intervals of a given percentage error with intervals of a given amount error: these interpolate between the stepwise decreases in percentage error. The estimated sign indicates that the average quantity of product in a batch of prepackages is not less than the nominal quantity stated on the label.
The tolerable negative error is related to the nominal quantity and varies between 9 per cent on prepackages nominally 50g or 50ml or less, to 1.5 per cent on prepackages nominally 1 kilogram or 1 litre or more. The tolerable error decreases as nominal quantity increases, and is done by alternating intervals where there is a percentage error and intervals where there is a fixed error (and thus over those intervals the percentage error decreases).
| Nominal quantity in g or ml | Tolerable negative error | |
|---|---|---|
| 5–50 | 9% | |
| 50–100 | 4.5 units | |
| 100–200 | 4.5% | |
| 200–300 | 9 units | |
| 300–500 | 3% | |
| 500–1000 | 15 units | |
| 1000–10000 | 1.5% |