The purpose of this Bill is to permit accession to the International Convention on the Hallmarking of Precious Metals, 1972, by making the legislative changes that are necessary as a prerequisite to accession. The Bill does not make any major changes in existing controls and the operation of the industry nor is it intended.
Seven countries took part in the discussions on the drafting of the convention and five ratified it. These are Britain, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. The remaining two, Portugal and Norway, have not yet submitted instruments of accession. Ireland was an observer at the discussions and for that reason may accede to it by depositing an instrument of accession, and accession will become effective two months after the date of deposit of that instrument.
The principal provisions of the convention are that the legal provisions of a contracting state which require articles of precious metal to be assayed and hallmarked by an authorised body to national standards of fineness shall be deemed to be satisfied in respect of articles of precious metal imported from other contracting states if these articles have been controlled and marked in accordance with the provisions of the convention. Contracting states may, however, refuse admission to articles bearing such marks if they do not conform to national standards of fineness. Imported items may be subject to check testing for verification of convention marks and for conformity with standards of fineness but such check testing may not unduly hamper items from going on to the market.
Precious metals are defined as items of gold, silver, platinum and their alloys and where these are intended for export to contracting states they must first be submitted to an authorised assay office for assaying and hallmarking in accordance with the provisions of the convention. The common control mark of the convention, which must be struck on them, is required to be made a lawful national mark in each contracting state.
Britain, which is the main export market for Irish items of precious metal, acceded to the convention in 1975. Since then Irish manufacturers are at a disadvantage because goods which have been assayed and hallmarked in Dublin may not go on to the British market unless they carry the convention mark or other approved British marks which must be applied in British assay offices. Delays in clearing Irish goods through British assay offices have resulted in financial loss and disadvantage from a competitive point of view. Irish manufacturers requested the Government to accede to the convention and they agreed to do so. As far as the Irish trade is concerned, therefore, the main attraction of the convention is that mutual recognition by contracting states of the common control mark of the convention will enable Irish items of precious metals, which are controlled in accordance with the provisions of the convention, to have quick and easy access to these markets and, particularly, to Britain.
From the consumers' point of view the convention is also attractive in that it permits contracting states to retain national standards of fineness. This is particularly important where silver is concerned because the prescribed Irish standard of silver is higher than that in most other countries.
Under existing statutes all articles of gold and silver manufactured in Ireland must be made to prescribed standards of fineness and must be submitted to the assay office for assaying and marking before being offered for sale. Imported items must also be made to the Irish standards of fineness and must be submitted through bonded entry to the assay office for marking with approved Irish marks before being placed on the market. Items which are so fragile that they might be damaged by marking are exempted from that requirement but must be assayed.
The changes necessary in Irish law as a prerequisite to accession are that the common control mark will be a lawful Irish mark which will be recognised in other participating countries; that the marks of participating countries will be recognised here, and that imported articles bearing such marks will no longer be subject to hallmarking on entry but may be subject to check testing for conformity with Irish standards of fineness and for verification of the marks. A standard and hallmark must be set for platinum and existing enactments will be construed as applying to platinum. Precise standards will be set for solder.
There will, of course, be no change in the law as far as articles exported to or imported from non-contracting states is concerned. These will continue to be subject to existing control by the Dublin Assay Office before exportation or on importation.
I am proposing only minimum changes in the law. However, I am taking advantage of the occasion to bring up to date the penalties prescribed for forgery of the dies or stamps used in hallmarking. I am also bringing the law into line with the administrative practice relating to the hallmarking of antique articles of precious metal. By law all items of foreign manufacture must be assayed and hallmarked on importation. As a modern marking on a valuable item made 100 years or more ago would diminish its value, the practice in the assay office has been to accept the markings on these and not to mark them further. In this Bill I am defining antiques and exempting these from assaying and hallmarking on production to the Revenue Commissioners of satisfactory proof of date of manufacture.
I commend this Bill to the House.
