Legislative News

New Law on the Control of Precious Metals Articles

25th May 2011, The Serbian Parliament adopted the Law Control of Precious Metals Articles ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 36/11)

Control of precious metals articles has, so far, been regulated by the Law on Control of Precious Metals Articles ("Official Gazette", No. 80/94, 83/94 - corr. 28/96) from the  State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

Taking into consideration the need to urgently establish a transparent and impartial manner of performing the control of precious metals articles in the Republic of Serbia, this law clearly defines the competences of the relevant Ministry, the Directorate of Precious Metals and authorized bodies, as well as business operators in the area covered by this law.

The adoption of this Law created the conditions for entry of new companies on the market, as authorized bodies, to perform testing and marking of precious metals and testing of precious metals alloys, which will allow the separation of testing and marking of precious metals, as well as testing of precious metals, from the surveillance  activities. This will enable better quality of surveillance, increase the security of all participants in the market and protect the public interest. Such solutions exist and neighboring countries too. New legislation, among other things, also regulates the issue of validity of foreign marks (stamps) and related documents in the territory of the Republic of Serbia.

This law will ensure that the articles made of precious metals can be placed on the market, or into use, only if they are marked appropriately, which is a confirmation that they comply with the prescribed requirements.

The Law allows the demonstration of product compliance based on proper documentation which is a novelty compared to current law. This will enable the manufacturer to decide the way to prove compliance of precious metals articles with the prescribed requirements.

Text of the Law (in Serbian language only)