How to apply for a responsibility mark

The resposibility mark is a mark stamped onto an article of precious metal that indicates who has manufacturer the article, who it is manufactured for, who is selling it or who has imported it into Finland. The responsibility mark indicates the party who is responsible for the article.

Companies that sell articles of precious metals in Finland are required to have their own responsibility marks, apart from a few exceptions. Only companies registered into the Business Register or the Trade Register may apply for a responsibility mark from Tukes.

 

Choosing a new responsibility mark:

  • The responsibility mark must consist of one capital letter or a combination of letters, e.g. ABC.
  • The font used for the mark must be clear, e.g. Arial. Stylized letters cannot be used.
  • If a combination of letters is used the letters must be clearly apart from each other and the same size.
  • The size of the responsibility mark has not been defined but it must be clearly legible on the finished product.
  • A shield shape may be used around the responsibility mark but it is not mandatory. If a shield shape is used Tukes recommends oval-shaped for gold articles, rectangular for silver articles, truncated triangle for palladium articles and rhombus for platinum articles.
  • A new responsibility mark may not be a symbol and it may only include capital letters.
  • Check the responsibility mark register to ensure that the responsibility mark you are applying for is not in use and has not been used in the last 10 years.  Tukes cannot approve responsibility marks that have been in use within the last ten years.

 

Instructions for filling in the responsibility mark application form

  • Fill in every section of the application form. It speeds up the processing of your application.
  • Also remember to select:
  • “Limited information” which means that only the responsibility mark identifier and the year of registration are shown in the public responsibility mark register
  • or
  • “Comprehensive information” which means the responsibility mark identifier, the year of registration, and the name, municipality and telephone number of the company are all shown in the public responsibility mark register
  • Sign the application. The signatory must be a person or persons authorised to sign official documents on behalf of the company. Send the application by mail to Turvallisuus- ja kemikaalivirasto (Tukes) / Opastinsilta 12 B, 00521 HKI.

Your company might not need its own responsibility mark if

  1. you sell light-weight articles of precious metals (i.e. articles made of gold, platinum or palladium) that weigh less than 1 g and articles made of silver that weigh less than 10 g.
  2. articles of precious metals imported to Finland carry a CCM mark
  3. articles of precious metals have been hallmarked by a recognised assay office within the EU and they meet the requirements set for articles of precious metals in Finland.
  4. the foreign manufacturer of the articles of precious metals or the company selling them has registered a responsibility mark into Tukes’s register.

How to apply for a responsibility mark

1.
Read the application instructions and fill in the application form

2.
Send the application to Tukes by mail

3.
Tukes receives the application. You will be contacted within a week and you will receive further instructions for sending in your responsibility mark sample.

4.
Send your responsibility mark sample to Tukes. Tukes usually makes a decision on responsibility marks within a week from receiving the responsibility mark sample and will send you the decision.

5.
You can only use your responsibility mark after the decision has been made.

6.
The responsibility mark registration invoice will be send separately, later.

To be noted

Currently, there is no inspection body for articles of precious metals in Finland. This means that no inspection or CCM mark can be obtained for articles of precious metals in Finland.

Eurofins Labtium Oy, the previous inspection body, discontinued the hallmarking of articles of precious metals at the end of January 2021.

The Ministry of Employment and the Economy has prepared a report on the subject.