Draft Order laid before Parliament under section 14(1) of the Legislative and 
Regulatory Reform Act 2006 for approval by resolution of each House of Parliament  
 
D R A F T  S T A T U T O R Y  I N S T R U M E N T S  
2011 No. xxxx  
HALLMARK  
The Legislative Reform (Hallmarking) Order 2 011 
Laid before Parliament  *** 
Coming into force  - - *** 
 
The Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills (―the Secretary of State‖) makes the 
following Order, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 1 of the Legislative and 
Regulatory Ref orm Act 2006 (a) (―the 2006 Act‖).  
For the purposes of section 3(1) of the 2006 Act, the Secretary of State considers that the 
conditions under section 3(2), where relevant, are satisfied.  
The Secretary of State has consulted in accordance with section 13(1 ) of the 2006 Act.  
The Secretary of State laid a draft Order and an explanatory document before Parliament in 
accordance with section 14(1) of the 2006 Act.  
Pursuant to section 15 of the 2006 Act, the [super -affirmative/ affirmative ] resolution procedure 
(within the meaning of Part 1 of that Act) applies in relation to the making of the Order.  
In accordance with section 17(2) of the 2006 Act, the draft has been approved by resolution of 
each House of Parliament after the expiry of the 40 -day period referred  to in that provision.  
Citation cCommencement  and extent.  
 
1. (1) This Order may be cited as the Legislative Reform (Hallmarking) Order 2011 
and shall come into force on the day after the day on which it is made.  
(2) This Order extends to the whole of the United Kingdom.  
 
                                                 
(a) 2006. c.51; section 13(1) has been amended by the Government of Wales Act 2006 (Consequential Modifications and 
Transitional Provisions) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/1338), Schedule 1, paragraph 147; see section 32 for the definition of 
―Minister of the Crown‖  Amendments to the Hallmarking Act 1973  
2.  The Hallmarking Act 1973 (a) is amended as follows.  
 
3. After section 2 (1)(a)insert - 
―(aa) marks struck  by an assay office outside the United Kingdom  under this Act; ‖. 
 
4. In section 3 (Sponsors’ marks), in subsection (3)(a) after ―shall‖, where first appearing, 
omit ―include the initial letters of the name or names of the manufacturer or sponsor and 
shall‖.  
 
5. After section 4 insert:  
 
―4A Business carried on by assay office outside United Kingdom  
(1) This Act applies with the following modifications in relation to business carried on by 
an assay office outside the United Kingdom.  
(2) Subsection (1) of section 4 has effect as if ―for ―shall be struck‖ there were 
substituted ―may be struck‖ and as i f for paragraph (a)(i) there were substituted - 
―(i) the mark approved by the Council for use by the assay office outside the United 
Kingdom;‖.  
(3) Schedule 2 has effect as if –  
(a) paragraph 1 were omitted,  
(b) in paragraph 7(a) for ―assay office mark‖, t here were substituted ―mark approved 
for use by the assay office outside the United Kingdom,‖,  
(c) in paragraph 10(3) and  (4)(c) for ―assay office mark‖ there were substituted 
―mark mentioned in paragraph 7(a), and  
(d) paragraph 15(b) were omitted.  
(4) Sc hedule 5 has effect as if in paragraph 2(1) for ―the assay office shall examine‖ there 
were substituted ―the assay office may examine‖.  
6. Section 5 (5) (Alterations to hallmarked articles)  is amended as follows – 
(a) after subparagraph (a) insert — 
―(aa) an  article of gold , if the coating is of platinum of not less than the minimum 
fineness; or‖  
(b) in subparagraph (c) after  ―the coating of silver‖ add ―or platinum‖; and  
(c) after subparagraph ( c) add — 
―(cc) an article of platinum if the coating is of plati num, if the coating is of platinum of a 
fineness not less than the standard of fineness of the article; or  
 
7. In section 13 (The British Hallmarking Council), in subsection (2)(e) after the word ―place‖, 
where first appearing,  insert ― ,whether in the Uni ted Kingdom or elsewhere ,‖ 
 
8.  In Schedule 2 – 
                                                 
(a) 1973 c.43; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1986/1757, 1998/2978, 2007/2493 and 2009/2040  (a) in Part 1, after  paragraph 5, insert:  
 
―Marks struck outside the United Kingdom  
5A. An article  to be struck with a hallmark by an assay office shall, where the place of 
striking is outside the United Kingd om, be struck with such mark as shall have been 
approved by the Council .‖.  
 
 
EXPLANATORY NOTE  
(This note is not part of the Order)  
 
The Hallmarking Act 1973 (c. 43) (the ―1973 Act‖) makes provision for 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, 7 and 8 make amendments to the 197 3 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 removi ng the requirement that a 
manufacturer’s or sponsor’s mark registered under that section shall 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 t he 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.