HALLMARKING

That this House welcomes the statement by the Minister for Employment Relations, Competition and Consumers on 20th June, 2003 407 c684-6, that the present draft European Union Directive on articles of precious metal would 'effectively weaken the level of protection enjoyed by the consumer, which we could not and would not support' and that 'the United Kingdom Government has no intention of altering a hallmarking system that has served the United Kingdom so well for so long'; notes that this follows the Department for Trade and Industry having consulted trade associations such as the British Jewellers Association, representing manufacturers, the National Association of Goldsmiths, representing retailers, assay offices, the British Hallmarking Council and trading standards and consumer organisations; welcomes the statement in the other place, obtaining cross-party support, by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, 19th June 2003 407 c960, that 'we will oppose the Directive'; notes, however, that the Italian presidency, starting on 1st July, intends to revive the draft Directive; further notes that nine out of the ten countries set to join the European Union in 2004 have compulsory hallmarking systems similar to that in the United Kingdom and regrets any attempts by member states with lower standards of protection to ignore their views; and calls on the Government vigorously to co-ordinate action with sympathetic member states to ensure that any harmonisation in this sector builds upon rather than dilutes existing high standards of consumer protection and, if this is not feasible, to form with those states a blocking minority.