S.I. No. 440/2019 - Hallmarking (Approved Hallmarks) Regulations 2019

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 3rd September, 2019.

I, HEATHER HUMPHREYS, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 (as amended by section 4 of the Hallmarking (Amendment) Act 2019 (No. 2 of 2019)) of the Hallmarking Act 1981 (No. 18 of 1981), as adapted by the Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2017 ( S.I. No. 364 of 2017 ), and after consultation with the Company referred to in the said section 3, hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Hallmarking (Approved Hallmarks) Regulations 2019.

2. These Regulations come into operation on the 1^st day of October 2019.

3. In these Regulations—

“Common Control Mark” means the mark described in Annex II to the Convention;

“Convention” means the Convention on the Control and Marking of Articles of Precious Metals, done at Vienna on 15 November, 1972, as amended from time to time;

“Dublin Assay Office” means the assay office of the Company.

4. (1) The following marks are prescribed as approved hallmarks to be applied to all articles of precious metal other than imported articles to which international hallmarks, as prescribed by paragraph (3), have already been applied:

(a) a sponsor’s mark;

(b) the appropriate mark used by the Dublin Assay Office, that is to say, for articles of silver, palladium, gold and platinum, the figure of Hibernia in a rectangular shield with chamfered corners, illustrated as follows:-

; and

(c) a mark denoting the relevant standard of fineness and applied in the Dublin Assay Office.

(2) A date letter denoting the year of hallmarking of the article may be applied in the Dublin Assay Office.

(3) The following marks are prescribed as international hallmarks:

(a) (i) a mark that has been notified in accordance with the Convention as being the mark of an assay office for the purposes of the Convention in the territory of a contracting state to the Convention (other than the State),

(ii) a registered responsibility mark as described in Annex II to the Convention, and

(iii) a mark consisting of a Common Control Mark applied in an assay office referred to in clause (i), that is to say, a mark consisting of the representation of a balance together with the number in Arabic numerals showing the standard of fineness of the article in parts per thousand in relief on a lined background surrounded by a shield indicating the nature of the precious metal as indicated below:

-for silver articles with a 925 fineness:

-for palladium articles with a 950 fineness:

-for gold articles with a 750 fineness:

-for platinum articles with a 950 fineness:

; or

(b) (i) a mark that has been notified in accordance with the Convention as being the mark of an assay office for the purposes of the Convention in the territory of a contracting state to the Convention (other than the State),

(ii) a registered responsibility mark as described in Annex II of the Convention,

(iii) a mark in Arabic numerals indicating the fineness of the article and a chemical symbol or shield indicating the nature of the precious metal applied by that assay office, and

(iv) a mark consisting of a Common Control Mark which is a conformity mark applied in an assay office referred to in clause (i), that is to say, a mark consisting of the representation of a balance surrounded by a standardised octagonal shield as follows:

5. The following fineness marks are prescribed as approved hallmarks to be applied to articles of precious metal consisting of or containing silver and comprising silver vessel, silver plate or manufacture of silver:

(a) where such an article is of a standard of fineness of 800 parts of fine silver in every 1,000 parts by weight in the article, a mark consisting of the figure “800” in an oval, illustrated as follows:-

(b) where such an article is of a standard of fineness of 925 parts of fine silver in every 1,000 parts by weight in the article, a mark consisting of the figure “925” in an oval, illustrated as follows:-

(c) where such an article is of a standard of fineness of 958.4 parts of fine silver in every 1,000 parts by weight in the article, a mark consisting of the figure “958” in an oval, illustrated as follows:-

(d) where such an article is of a standard of fineness of 999 parts of fine silver in every 1,000 parts by weight in the article, a mark consisting of the figure “999” in an oval, illustrated as follows:-

6. The following fineness marks are prescribed as approved hallmarks to be applied to articles of precious metal consisting of or containing palladium:-

(a) where such an article is of the standard of fineness of “500” parts in every 1,000 parts, a mark consisting of a three overlapping circles shield, illustrated as follows:-

(b) where such an article is of the standard of fineness of “950” parts in every 1,000 parts, a mark consisting of a three overlapping circles shield, illustrated as follows:-

(c) where such an article is of the standard of fineness of “999” parts in every 1,000 parts, a mark consisting of a three overlapping circles shield, illustrated as follows:-

7. The following fineness marks are prescribed as approved hallmarks to be applied to articles of precious metal consisting of or containing gold and comprising gold vessel, gold plate or manufacture of gold:

(a) where such an article is of a standard of fineness of 9 carats, a mark consisting of the figure “375” in a rectangular shield with chamfered corners at one side, illustrated as follows:-

(b) where such an article is of a standard of fineness of 10 carats, a mark consisting of the figure “417” in a rectangular shield with chamfered corners at one side, illustrated as follows:-

(c) where such an article is of a standard of fineness of 14 carats, a mark consisting of the figure “585” in a rectangular shield with chamfered corners at one side, illustrated as follows:-

(d) where such an article is of a standard of 18 carats, a mark consisting of the figure “750” in a rectangular shield with chamfered corners at one side, illustrated as follows:-

(e) where such an article is of a standard of fineness of 20 carats, a mark consisting of the figure “833” in a rectangular shield with chamfered corners at one side, illustrated as follows:-

(f) where such an article is of a standard of fineness of 22 carats, a mark consisting of the figure “916” in a rectangular shield with chamfered corners at one side, illustrated as follows:-

(g) where such an article is of a standard of fineness of 23.78 carats, a mark consisting of the figure “990” in a rectangular shield with chamfered corners at one side, illustrated as follows:-

(h) where such an article is of a standard of fineness of 23.98 carats, a mark consisting of the figure “999” in a rectangular shield with chamfered corners at one side, illustrated as follows:-

8. The following fineness marks are prescribed as approved hallmarks to be applied to articles of precious metal consisting of or containing platinum:-

(a) where such an article is of the standard of fineness of “600” parts in every 1,000 parts, a mark consisting of a pentagonal shield, illustrated as follows:-

(b) where such an article is of the standard of fineness of “850” parts in every 1,000 parts, a mark consisting of a pentagonal shield, illustrated as follows:-

(c) where such an article is of the standard of fineness of “900” parts in every 1,000 parts, a mark consisting of a pentagonal shield, illustrated as follows:-

(d) where such an article is of the standard of fineness of “950” parts in every 1,000 parts, a mark consisting of a pentagonal shield, illustrated as follows:-

(e) where such an article is of the standard of fineness of “999” parts in every 1,000 parts, a mark consisting of a pentagonal shield, illustrated as follows:-

9. (1) Where an article contains one or more precious metals, an approved mark in accordance with Regulation 4(1)(a) and (b), and an approved fineness mark in accordance with Regulation 5, 6, 7 or 8, as applicable, shall be struck on the least precious metal part, in order of silver, palladium, gold, and platinum, and a fineness mark in accordance with Regulation 5, 6, 7 or 8, as applicable, will be stamped on each higher precious metal part.

(2) If, in the opinion of the Assay Master, it is not possible to apply the fineness mark on a higher precious metal part due to space constraints or the configuration of the mixed-metal article, then the fineness mark of such higher precious metal part may be applied next to the hallmark on the least precious metal part.

10. (1) Where an article contains both precious metal and non-precious metal, both metal parts must be clearly distinguishable. The precious metal part of the article shall be marked with an approved mark in accordance with Regulation 4(1)(a) and (b) and an approved fineness mark in accordance with Regulation 5, 6, 7 or 8, as applicable, and the non-precious part marked with the word “METAL”.

(2) If, in the opinion of the Assay Master, it is not possible to apply the mark “METAL” on the non-precious metal part due to space constraints or the configuration of the multi-metal article, then the word “+METAL” shall be applied next to the hallmark on the precious metal part.

11. The Hallmarking (Approved Hallmarks) Regulations 2001 ( S.I. No. 560 of 2001 ) are revoked.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

29 August, 2019.

HEATHER HUMPHREYS,

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations prescribe approved hallmarks for articles of precious metal and make consequential and ancillary provisions.

These Regulations revoke the Hallmarking (Approved Hallmarks) Regulations 2001 ( S.I. No. 560 of 2001 ).

These Regulations may be cited as the Hallmarking (Approved Hallmarks) Regulations 2019.