2019/0422/NL
EC/EFTA
NL Pays-Bas
  • X10M - Métaux précieux
2019-12-03
2019-09-06

Platinum, gold, silver and palladium.

Order laying down rules on the assaying of precious metal objects (Assay Order 2019)

In the Netherlands, objects made of gold, silver or platinum must bear a hallmark issued by a designated assay office that guarantees the fineness of the precious metal in question. This enables consumers to trust that an object is actually made from a particular precious metal and that this precious metal has a particular fineness. The assay requirement and the rules for assaying and assay bodies (the designated assay offices) are contained in the Assay Act [Waarborgwet] 1986. The Assay Act 1986 will soon be replaced by the Assay Act 2019 (previously notified under Notification No 2018/495/NL). This also entails a revision of the regulations adopted under the Assay Act 1986. This draft Order (Assay Order 2019) provides for a revision of the current Assay Order. The Order lays down the standard marks, assay office marks and date letter marks, sets rules for the use of these hallmarks and for the assaying of composite objects (objects containing proportions of different precious metals or proportions of precious metal and proportions of other substances). It also lays down higher levels of fineness that can be guaranteed, as well as the accreditation standards for assay bodies.

The Assay Order was notified in 1997 (1997/411/NL). With respect to the prior notification, the following articles are new or have amended content: Articles 2, 3, 5, 8 (Annex, Section I and II), 9 (Annex, Section III), 10 (Annex, Section IV and V), 14, 15 and 16. We cannot rule out the possibility that these new provisions may include technical regulations. Some examples here may be Article 2(a) (higher levels of fineness at which platinum objects can be guaranteed), Articles 3 and 5 (rules regarding the assaying of objects with a thick precious metal top layer), Article 8 (fineness marks for platinum with fineness of 850 parts per thousand and 900 parts per thousand), Article 9 (date letter marks from 2010), Article 10 (assay office marks) and Article 14 (marking a thick precious metal top layer).