Articles hallmarked in Sheffield can be accepted in other countries
Published: 6th June 2019
Did you know that articles hallmarked in Sheffield with a Common Control mark will be accepted in many other countries?
The Sheffield Assay Office helps many of our customers to maintain compliance with relevant Hallmarking legislation whilst importing and exporting jewellery.
The UK is a member of the International Convention on Hallmarking. The Convention enables designated national Assay Offices under the terms of the Convention to apply the Common Control Mark to articles of platinum, gold, palladium and silver and after having tested their fineness in accordance with agreed testing methods. Each Contracting State allows goods marked with this CCM to be imported without further testing and marking (if such articles qualify for the domestic market).
Articles bearing the Convention Common Control Mark (CCM) – together with the national Assay Office Mark, the responsibility mark (i.e. the manufacturer or sponsor) and the fineness mark indicating its purity – do not have to be re-hallmarked upon import in a PMC Contracting State. The Convention thus enhances market access for CCM-marked articles of precious metals.
The Convention considerably reduces the unnecessary, time-consuming and costly duplication of control and marking, which is an important consideration for manufacturers and importers.
In 2018, 5.9 million articles were marked with the CCM, which is an increase of 17% on the previous year.
UK Assay Offices processed 3.3 million of these items.
The current list of members of the Convention can be found by clicking here.
For more information on our Hallmarking Services, click here. You can also contact us by telephone on 0114 231 2121 or email info@assayoffice.co.uk.
The Sheffield Assay Office was established in 1773, under an Act of Parliament and today the company assays and hallmarks the precious metals - silver, gold, platinum and palladium. Sheffield Assay Office is one of only four UK assay offices who all work to uphold the Hallmarking Act of 1973 and continue to ensure consumer protection for customers purchasing precious metals.
To find out more about the whole range of services offered by Sheffield Assay Office, such as our hallmarking and analytical services, please email us at info@assayoffice.co.uk or complete the contact form on our website at http://www.assayoffice.co.uk/contact-us ,
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