Hallmarking. Legal Study on Market Surveillance
Hallmarking. Legal Study on Market Surveillance

Summary/Abstract: The Convention was signed on 15 December 1972 and entered into force on 27 June 1975. Amendments of Articles 10 and 12 of the Convention of 18 May 1988 entered into force on 16 August 1993. All Contracting States have ratified these and are currently bound by them. Further amendments adopted in 2001 have not yet entered into force. They have been taken into account although their content seems of limited relevance for the question at issue apart from the revised text of the treaty preamble. The annexes to the Convention as amended several times are of a purely technical nature and have therefore not been included in the analysis of the actual text. The Explanatory Notes contain no substantive language that would contribute to answering the question at stake.Market surveillance includes the following activities: inspections of retailers, wholesalers, importers, manufacturers, markets etc. (precious metals operators) with regard to whether articles were properly marked, existence of false marks, non-precious metal objects sold as precious metal, combination of metals and other materials, substandard articles. However, at the same meeting the Standing Committee added the term “Market Surveillance” to a newly created Glossary and introduced as a definition “Policing the whole market to ensure members of the public are not cheated”. On the whole, however, there is no coherent subsequent practice of the Parties in respect to market surveillance measures.

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