The Hallmarking Act 1973 (c. 43) (the “1973 Act”) makes provision in relation to the composition, assaying, marking and description of articles of, or containing, precious metals. This Order is made under section 1 of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 (c.51) (the “2006 Act”). It makes a number of amendments to the 1973 Act.

Articles 3, 5, and 7 make amendments to the 1973 Act to enable assay offices to strike hallmarks outside the United Kingdom and for items bearing those hallmarks to be treated in the same way as items bearing hallmarks struck in the United Kingdom.

Article 4 amends section 3 of the 1973 Act by removing the requirement that a manufacturer’s or sponsor’s mark registered under that section must include the initial letters of the name or names of the manufacturer or sponsor.

Article 6 amends section 5 of the 1973 Act by allowing articles of silver, gold or platinum bearing a hallmark, to be coated with platinum without having to first obtain the written consent of an assay office.

This Order was notified in draft to the European Commission in accordance with Directive 98/34/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (OJ No L204, 21.7.98, p 37) as amended by Directive 98/48/EC (OJ No L217, 5.8.98, p 18)

A full impact assessment of the effect that this Order will have on the cost of business is available from the National Measurement Office and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the Legislation UK website at www.legislation.gov.uk.