In 1992 the European Commission published a proposal for a Directive to cover the marking of precious metals and in 1993 the draft directive was issued. Under this, three methods of certification were proposed as being acceptable within the EU:

	marking by an independent entity, such as an Assay Office;
	marking by a manufacturer operating to standards regulated by a third party accreditation body;
	manufacturer self certification.

The Council identified five principal areas where is considered the draft to be deficient:

	the wide range of standards of fineness which could confuse both industry and the consumer;
	one of the three marking options - Annex IV - manufacturer self certification - was unsafe for the consumer as it lacked the protection of the other marking systems;
	the omission of a notified body (i.e. the hallmarking body) symbol as part of the prescribed marks to be stamped on each article identifying the organisations represented for Assay and Hallmarking;
	absence of an effective statutory accreditation procedure for notified bodies; and
	the draft lacked specificity.

In 1994 the European Parliament considered the draft directive and voted to approve many amendments to the draft, some of which would have dealt with the defects. In particular, the European Parliament wished to see Annex III (formerly IV) - manufacturers self certification - strengthened, as well as the introduction of a notified body symbol.

In November 1994 the Council was invited, along with other interested organisations, to give oral evidence to a sub-committee of the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities. The Committee's recommendations were published in late December and included the deletion of Annex III, the striking of a notified body mark and the addition of an accreditation procedure to establish the competence of notified bodies.

In June 1997 the Commission tabled some amendments to the draft Directive, under which Member States would be free to decide whether or not to accept on their markets products which complied with Annex III. It also proposed that article 18 should be amended so that the Commission's report to the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers after the three year transitional period should be accompanied by proposals to amend the directive. The Council expressed its concern with this amendment as it was felt this could be a back door way of resurrecting Annex III, thus enabling manufacturers to carry out self-certification.

In 2001 , the Chairman and a number of Council members took part in discussions of Stakeholders in the UK precious metals and jewellery sectors, and in the agreement of a Declaration of Intent dated 23 October 2001. Please go to the Publications section to view this.

Focus has again centred on the draft Directive, as a result of the likelihood that it will be placed on the agenda of the Commission during the Italian Presidency of the EU during the second half of 2003. Two briefing papers have been provided by Council to DTI; one dated 8 January 2003 and the other dated 17 April 2003. Please go to the Publications section to view these. The annexes to the April paper are not displayed, but please contact the Secretary if you would like to have copies.