Cap. 46 Art. 2Interpretation.

In this Act, and in any regulations made thereunder -

"an alloy of a precious metal" is a solid solution of a precious metal and one or more other metals;

"Authority" means the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs

Authority as established by article 3 of the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority Act;

"authorized" unless otherwise specified, means empowered by the Minister or his equivalent in a Member State or by an appropriate European Union Agency or by any person designated by the aforementioned in accordance with the provisions of this Act;

"authorized hallmarking body" is a person independent of the manufacturer or sponsor of a precious metal article, authorized to imprint an office mark on the said article; "Consul" means the Consul for the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths and the functions and duties of the Consul shall be discharged by the Director General (Standards and Metrology) or any public officer authorised in writing by the Director General to discharge such duties;

"dealer" means any person who deals in precious metal articles or precious stones;

"European Union" means the European Union referred to in the Treaty;

"fineness mark" is a mark in arabic numerals imprinted on the precious metal alloy of a precious metal article representing the standard of fineness of the said alloy, and the type of precious metal therein; "Malta" has the same meaning as assigned to it by article 124 of the Constitution of Malta; "manufacturer" is a person who makes precious metal articles;

*See Legal Notice 270 of 2021. metal article which a manufacturer is authorized to imprint on the precious metal article he manufactures; "Member State" means a state which is a member of the European Union; "Minister", unless otherwise provided in this Act, means the Minister responsible for the Authority; "office hallmark" is an imprint on a precious metal article applied by an authorized hallmarking body comprising at least a standard mark; "placed on the market" means in any way made available on the market in the territory of Malta with a view to the distribution and, or, use in the said territory or in such other territory as may be prescribed; "precious metal" means gold, platinum, palladium and silver in the pure state and their alloys; "precious metal article" is any fully manufactured item of jewellery, goldsmith’s or silversmith’s ware or watchmaker’s ware and any other complete object made entirely or in part from a precious metal;

"prescribed" means as prescribed by regulations under the Act; "sponsor" means a person who undertakes the same responsibilities as the manufacturer; "sponsor’s hallmark" is an imprint which a sponsor is authorized to apply on a precious metal article comprising the sponsor’s mark and a standard mark;

"sponsor’s mark" is the identifying mark which a sponsor is authorized to imprint on a precious metal article;

"standard" is the fractional content by weight of pure precious metal in a precious metal alloy;

"standard of fineness" shall be the number representing the number of parts by weight of pure precious metal in one thousand parts by weight of a precious metal alloy (millesims); "standard mark" is a mark imprinted on the precious metal alloy of a precious metal article representing the standard of the alloy and the type of precious metal therein; "Standards and Metrology Institute" means the national body established under Part VII of the Malta Competition and Consumer

Affairs Authority Act;

"the Treaty" has the same meaning assigned to it in the European Union Act.