§ Mr. BellinghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the562W future of United Kingdom Hallmarking in the context of discussions on the draft Directive on Articles of Precious Metals following the European Council of 27 November. [142129]
§ Mr. SutcliffeFollowing the decision of the Committee of Permanent Representatives not to send the draft Directive to the Council of Ministers on 27 November, the draft Directive has now effectively been shelved again, and UK hallmarking will continue as before. After the Accession countries join the EU next year (nine of the 10 have compulsory independent hallmarking systems) there will be more support for compulsory third party marking.