Hallmarking requirements and the EU
Guidance for UK jewellery importers and exporters.
Recognition of hallmarks
From 1 January 2021, obligations to recognise equivalent EU hallmarks ended in Great Britain. For the Northern Ireland market EU hallmarks will continue to be recognised.
Any product already on the market before 1 January 2021 will continue to be legal.
Any new stock entering the GB market will require a UK hallmark or Common Control Mark.
Any new stock exported to EU members will require a mark recognised by those countries.
Common Control Mark
The Common Control Mark (CCM) applied by signatories to the Vienna Convention on the Control of Precious Metal Articles will continue to be recognised in the UK and by Convention members:
- Austria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Finland
- Hungary
- Republic of Ireland
- Israel
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Slovak Republic
- Slovenia
- Sweden
- Switzerland
Serbia and Italy are in the process of ratifying the treaty.
The CCM mark can be applied to new articles along with UK Assay Office marks or as an addition to articles already bearing UK hallmarks.
If you are importing from a convention member, you can request a convention mark on your goods or you can submit them to a UK Assay Office for hallmarking.
Exemption weights
The UK exemption weights of 7.78 grams for silver, 1 gram for gold/palladium and 0.5 grams for platinum may not apply in other countries. For example, in the Republic of Ireland there are no exemption weights so any stock destined for the Republic of Ireland must bear a CCM. You can get information on exemption weights for other signatory states from the relevant Assay Office of the country concerned or from the Hallmarking Convention website.
Other EU members
Luxembourg and Germany do not require any hallmark as a pre-market authorisation.
In France a hallmark is a legal requirement. Importers must register with the bureaux de garantie.
In Spain a hallmark is a legal requirement. Importers must register with an assay office in Spain, see the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism website.
There are legal requirements regarding hallmarking in Belgium. See the Federal Ministry of Finance’s factsheet (PDF).
Customs arrangements
This guidance is about hallmarks only. There is separate guidance on customs arrangements.