The Hallmarking (International Convention) Order 2002

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Hallmarking (International Convention) Order 2002, and shall come into force on the 1st April 2002.

(2) The Hallmarking (International Convention) Order 1976 M1 is hereby revoked.

Marginal Citations

M1 S.I. 1976/730; as amended by S.I. 1981/559, 1983/1608, 1984/1131, 1987/1892, 1988/2286, 1995/2488 and S.I. 1998/2978.

2.  In this Order “the Convention” means the Convention on the Control and Marking of Articles of Precious Metals done at Vienna on 15th November 1972.

3.—(1) The following marks are designated for the purposes of section 2 of the Act as marks recognised pursuant to the Convention, that is to say—

(a) except in a case in which the number is applied to the article by a person other than an assay office authorised as mentioned in sub-paragraph (b) below, a number in Arabic numerals indicating the standard of fineness of an article being—

[F1 (i) in the case of gold, 999, 916, 750, 585 or 375;

(ii) in the case of silver, 999, 925, 830 or 800;

(iii) in the case of platinum, 999, 950, 900 or 850; and

(iv) in the case of palladium, 999, 950 and 500.]

(b) a mark which has been notified in accordance with the Convention as being the mark of an assay office authorised for the purposes of the Convention in the territory of a Contracting State other than the United Kingdom;

(c) The Common Control Mark comprising a number specified in sub-paragraph (a) above.

(2) The Common Control Mark consists of the representation of a balance together with the number in Arabic numerals showing the standard of fineness of the article in relief on a lined background surrounded by a shield indicating the nature of the precious metal. The shields are illustrated in Part 1 of Schedule 1 hereto; and examples of the Common Control Mark are illustrated in Part II of that Schedule.

(3) The marks referred to in paragraph (1)(b) are illustrated in Schedule 2 hereto.

Textual Amendments

F1 Art. 3(1)(a)(i)-(iv) substituted for art. 3(1)(a)(i)-(iii) (15.1.2012) by virtue of The Hallmarking (International Convention) (Amendment) Order 2011 (S.I. 2011/3039), arts. 1, 3

4.  Every mark, being the name of a person who submits articles for hallmarking, or an abbreviation thereof or a symbol indicating such a person which has been entered in the official register of a Contracting State other than the United Kingdom, or in the official register of an authorised assay office in the territory of such a Contracting state, is designated—

(a) as a mark recognised pursuant to the Convention; and

(b) as a sponsor’s mark for the purposes of the Act.

5.—(1) A person submitting an article for hallmarking to an assay office in the United Kingdom authorised for the purposes of the Convention may request the assay office to strike the article with the marks specified in Article 3(1)(a) and (c) above whether or not the article bears or is to bear other approved hallmarks, and (subject to the provisions of the Act and, in particular, section 4 as having effect in the manner indicated in paragraph (2) of this Article) the assay office shall give effect to any such request; and the following provisions of this Article shall apply:

Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall require an assay office to strike an article with the mark specified in Article 3(1)(a) if the article already bears approved hallmarks struck in the United Kingdom which include the mark so specified.

(2) Section 4 of the Act shall have effect in relation to the striking of such specified marks as if—

(a) subsection (1)(a)(ii) required the striking on the article of the marks specified in Article 3(1)(a) (subject to the proviso in paragraph (1) of this Article), and in Article 3(1)(c), instead of the standard mark;

(b) subsection (1)(a)(iii) were omitted;

(c) the words in subsection (1)(“and, as respects all such articles” to the end of the subsection and Part IV of Schedule 2 to the Act, did not apply in relation to the Common Control Mark;

(d) in subsection (2) the reference to subsection (1)(a)(iii) were omitted;

(e) in subsection (3), in head (c) of the proviso to paragraph b(i) “585” were substituted for “ 500 ”, and in paragraph (b)(iii), “995” were substituted for “ the standard of fineness of the article ”;

(f) in paragraph 4 of Part II of Schedule 2 to the Act—

(i) in subparagraph (c), for the words “struck only with the standard mark for the metal of which those parts are made” there were substituted the words “ stamped or engraved with a specific designation of the metal ”;

(ii) the words “and in relation to any article” to the end of paragraph 4 were omitted; and

(g) in Part III of Schedule 2 to the Act, for paragraph 6(b)(ii) there were substituted the following—

“(ii) these materials are used for filling the handle of a knife, fork or spoon and only in such a quantity as is necessary for joining.”

6.—(1) A person may submit to an assay office an article wholly or partly of silver with a written request that it be marked as being of a fineness of 830 as respects the article as a whole or its silver parts; and in such a case the following provisions of this Article shall have effect.

[F2 (2) Article 5 shall apply as if a new sub-paragraph were added after paragraph 2(e) substituting in section 4(3)(b)(ii) of the Act “550” for “650”.]

(3) Where a silver article is struck with the mark indicating a standard of fineness of 830 the article shall be struck with the relevant assay office mark set out below instead of the mark set out in column (2) or (3), as the case may be, of paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Act.

Textual Amendments

F2 Art. 6(2) substituted (15.1.2012) by The Hallmarking (International Convention) (Amendment) Order 2011 (S.I. 2011/3039), arts. 1, 4

 

(4) Marks struck by an assay office on an article in accordance with sub-paragraph (1) above shall not be approved hallmarks for the purposes of section 2(4)(a) of the Act; and accordingly the article shall be unhallmarked.

Patricia Hewitt

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry