M1-2001
Updated 26th Jan 2004
1 (3)
APPLICATION FOR RESPONSIBILITY MARK
ON ARTICLES OF PRECIOUS METALS
1. INTRODUCTION
Any entrepreneur manufacturing articles of precious metals that are subject to
certain marks by law or being responsible for placing such articles on the Finnish
market (manufacturer or seller) shall have a responsibility mark duly approved
by and registered with the Safety Technology Authority (TUKES), the official
surveillance authority in Finland. However, in the following exceptional cases no
responsibility mark is required of the manufacturer:
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The enterprise imports to Finland only articles of gold or platinum weighing
less than 1.0 gram, or articles of silver weighing less than 10 grams.
The imported articles have been duly assayed and hallmarked in any state
contracting to the Vienna Convention on the Control and Marking of Articles
of Precious Metals (CCM), i.e. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands,
Great Britain, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, or Portugal.
(Treaty Series of the Statutes of Finland 16/1975, 62/1980).
The imported articles have been manufactured in a country within the
European Economic Area (EEA), and they carry at least the manufacturer’s
registered responsibility mark and a fineness mark indicating the number of
parts of pure precious metal per thousand the article contains.
The imported articles have been manufactured in a country whose hallmark
has been registered with TUKES.
The foreign manufacturer’s responsibility mark has been registered with
TUKES.
The responsibility mark indicates the entrepreneur who is responsible for the
article’s conformity with requirements. The responsibility mark will be approved
by TUKES upon a written application to be submitted before any of the relevant
activities are started. The registration is subject to a confirmation by the holder at
three-year intervals.
This Instruction Letter is issued on the basis of the following Finnish statutes:
 Articles of Precious Metals Act (1029/2000)
 Government Decree on Articles of Precious Metals (1148/2000).
SAFETY TECHNOLOGY AUTHORITY
TUKES INSTRUCTION LETTER
M1-2001
2 (‫)ג‬
2 March 2001
2. APPLICATION ENTRIES
The responsibility mark can be applied for on the TUKES Form ”Responsibility
Mark Application or Notification of a Registered Entry to be Amended”. The
application shall contain information as follows:
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company name or name of natural person in full
auxiliary company name (if any)
contact information
responsibility mark proposal
name of the person responsible for the company (e.g. Managing Director)
place and date, signature (Managing Director or authorised signer).
The required appendices include a current Extract from the Trade Register or
similar verified information (extract from an authority register, Registration
Notification of VAT-liable Parties, Extract from the Associations Register)
indicating the business code of the applicant company.
3. RESPONSIBILITY MARK FEATURES
The responsibility mark may feature a capital letter or a set of capital letters. As
of 1 January 2001, no figures or symbols are acceptable as responsibility marks.
The letters shall be in upright position, simple, and clearly distinguishable, e.g.
”Arial”. Here is an example of a fictitious responsibility mark typed with Arial:
ABC. For information on vacant responsibility marks, call our Client Service at
(09) 616 71 (switchboard). A responsibility mark reservation made by phone will
be valid for six months.
Provided there are no impediments to approval, and having received the relevant
announcement from TUKES, the entrepreneur shall submit us a sample of the
approved responsibility mark, stamped on a metal plate of c. 20 x 20 mm
(preferably of zinc or lead). To make sure the mark is readable, it shall be
stamped on the plate with different strengths.
4. DECISION ON APPROVAL
Having approved the responsibility mark application and the relevant samples,
the entrepreneur will receive a written decision on the approval and on the
registration. Thereafter, the entrepreneur has the right to introduce the
responsibility mark and, if desired, to have articles of precious metals
hallmarked at an assay office.
5. LIABILITIES OF THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COMPANY
The person responsible for the company shall oversee that the company acts as
prescribed by the statutes relating to the articles of precious metals. The company
SAFETY TECHNOLOGY AUTHORITY
TUKES INSTRUCTION LETTER
M1-2001
3 (‫)ג‬
2 March 2001
may authorise its employees to have the articles hallmarked in the appropriate
manner.
6. PERIODIC CONFIRMATION
The holder of a registered responsibility mark shall confirm its validity at threeyear intervals – regardless of the use of the mark. TUKES submits the necessary
instructions and a form for this purpose.
7. AMENDMENTS OF REGISTER ENTRIES
The entrepreneur shall announce any essential amendments to the register entries
to TUKES – preferably without delay.
8. FURTHER INFORMATION
This Instruction Letter shall be valid until 31 December 2005.
For more information, please contact our Client Service, P.O. Box 123, 00181
Helsinki, telephone (09) 616 71, telefax (09) 616 7590. On the Internet, you will
find us at www.tukes.fi.
Director General
Deputy for Director, Product Safety Enforcement
Chief Safety Engineer
APPENDIX
TUKES Form ”Responsibility Mark Application or
Notification of a Registered Entry to be Amended”
Seppo Tuominen
Hannu Mattila