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ORDER

amending and supplementing Government Emergency Order No 190/2000 on the rules applicable to precious metals and precious stones in Romania, republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented

On the basis of Article 108 of the Romanian Constitution, republished, and Article 1 (I) section.... of Law .........on the empowerment of the Government to issue orders,

The Romanian Government hereby adopts this order.

Article I. Government Emergency Order No 190/2000 on the rules applicable to precious metals and precious stones in Romania, republished in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, No 77 of 29 January 2004, as subsequently amended and supplemented, is amended and supplemented as follows:

1. Article 2(1) is amended to read as follows:

“1. a) authorisation - the document issued by the National Consumer Protection Authority, granting the right to perform operations involving precious metals and precious stones;

b) mark - a conventional sign applied to an object made of a precious metal;

c) marking - the operation of applying a mark to an object made of a precious metal;

d) state mark - an official mark, protected by law, that is applied to objects made of precious metals exclusively by the National Consumer Protection Authority, as the competent authority, before they are placed on the national market;

e) responsibility mark - an established mark registered at the National Consumer Protection Authority, that is applied to objects made of precious metals by the economic operators placing the product on the national market and by way of which they assume responsibility for any latent defects in the object made of a precious metal;

f) fineness mark - a conventional sign, which differs according to the fineness of the precious metal, that is applied to objects made of precious metals;

g) repealed;

h) equivalent mark - the national mark of other Member States that is applied to objects made of precious metals that have been analysed by a competent authority in accordance with requirements identical or equivalent to those specified in the provisions of current national legislation;

i) precious metals - gold, silver, platinum and palladium, as well as alloys thereof, in any form;

j) precious stones - natural diamonds, natural rubies, natural sapphires, natural emeralds and natural or cultured pearls;

k) placing on the national market - an action performed by economic operators consisting in making objects made of precious metals available on the national market for the first time, for a price or free of charge;

l) fineness - the proportion of precious metal in an object, expressed in thousandths;

m) certificate of quality - a declaration made by an authorised economic operator whereby they give notice, on their own account, of the fact that the product complies with what has been stipulated or declared;

n) certificate of testing - a document issued by the National Consumer Protection Authority confirm the precious metal content of an object;

o) false mark - a mark applied to an object made of a precious or common metal, that resembles a state mark or responsibility mark.”

After letter o), a letter p) is inserted, worded as follows:

p) assay report - a document issued by the Precious Metals Assay Laboratory of the National Consumer Protection Authority

2. Article 2(2),h) is amended to read as follows:

h) intermediate operations involving precious metals and precious stones;

3. Article 2(2),k) is repealed

4. Article 2(3, 4, 7, 9 and 10) are repealed

5. After Article 2, a new article, Article 21, is inserted, worded as follows:

a) objects made of precious metals whose fineness is below the statutory minimum fineness;

b) objects made of ordinary metals covered with precious metals;

c) objects made of precious metals that are intended for industrial, technical, scientific, educational, medical, laboratory and other similar uses;

d) objects made of precious metals that are temporarily brought into Romania to be displayed at exhibitions without being sold;

e) objects made of precious metals that are part of the national cultural heritage;

f) operations relating to investment gold as defined in the national legislation in force.

6. Article 6 is repealed.

7. Article 7 is amended to read as follows:

Article 7. - (1) Economic operators who market objects made of precious metals and precious stones are obliged to inform consumers correctly, fully and precisely of the nature and characteristics of the objects that they are marketing.

(2) Objects made of precious metals and precious stones may only be marketed if they are accompanied by a certificate of quality or similar document certifying their nature and characteristics.

(3) The method used to provide information regarding objects made of precious metals and precious stones that are being marketed will be laid down in the methodological standards for application of this emergency order.

8. Article 8 is amended to read as follows:

Article 8. - (1) The operations provided for in Article 2(2), involving precious metals and precious stones 2(2) may be performed by authorised economic operators solely on the basis of an authorisation issued by the National Consumer Protection Authority for an indefinite period, which is stamped annually by the latter.

(2) They shall not be subject to the authorisation regime applicable to the operations provided for in Article 2(2) if they are performed for the economic operator’s own needs and on a not-for-profit basis.

(3) The fee set by the National Consumer Protection Authority shall be charged for the issue of an authorisation, and the authorisation requirements shall be laid down in the methodological standards for application of this emergency order.

(4) Economic operators authorised to perform operations involving precious metals and precious stones in Member States of the European Union and the European Economic Area, who have been subject to such a requirement in the member state of establishment, shall not be subject to authorisation by the National Consumer Protection Authority.

(5) The economic operators referred to in paragraph (4) are obliged, on the basis regulated by the methodological standards for application of this emergency order, before beginning operations involving precious metals and precious stones in Romania, to notify the National Consumer Protection Authority of the fact and to prove that they are authorised to perform such operations in the member state of establishment, in accordance with their national law.

(6) Authorised economic operators, and those referred to in paragraph (4), are obliged, in the event of any changes to their name, address/headquarters and other places where operations involving precious metals and precious stones are performed, to give written notice thereof to the National Consumer Protection Authority within 10 days of these changes occurring.

(7) The purpose of the annual endorsement provided for in paragraph (1) is to check that the authorisation requirements are still being met.

9. Article 9 is amended to read as follows:

Article 9. - Economic operators authorised to perform operations involving precious metals and precious stones, as well as those referred to in Article 8 (4), are obliged to keep strict records thereof, in accordance with the methodological standards for application of this emergency order.

10. Article 10 is amended to read as follows:

Article 10. - The authorised economic operators mentioned in Article 9 are obliged to make available to the empowered authorities all documents and records requested by them relating to the authorised operations that are performed.

11. Article 12 is amended to read as follows:

Article 12. - (1) The purpose of marking is to certify the fact that objects made of precious metals have the precious metal content corresponding to the fineness mark applied and to identify the authorised economic operators who applied the marks.

(2) The statutory finenesses in Romania, expressed in thousandths, that apply to objects made of precious metals are as follows:

a) for gold: 375; 500; 585; 750; 833; 900; 916 and 999;
1. ------IND- 2017 0291 RO- EN- ------ 20181115 --- --- FINAL

Emergency Ordinance No 10/2018

Amending and supplementing Government Emergency Order No 190/2000 regarding the rules for precious metals and precious stones in Romania

Published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, No 203 of 6 March 2018

Having regard to the importance in economic terms of operations involving precious metals and precious stones, a sensitive field with a high level of counterfeiting and tax evasion in particular, it is imperative to ensure that there is rigorous market discipline and a high level of consumer protection;

taking into account the fact that there is currently no real way of knowing the quantities of precious metals introduced to and/or removed from Romanian territory, as well as the fact that the legislation does not provide for any obligation to present the acts of provenance of precious metal objects when economic operators report to the National Authority for Consumer Protection for marking of the objects;

taking into consideration the fact that, although there is a legal requirement that the sale, purchase and removal from the country of ingots and/or melted-down precious metals or their alloys is only permitted if accompanied by a test report issued by the National Authority for Consumer Protection, there are numerous cases of non-compliance with this obligation;

having regard to the fact that there are no legal provisions regarding the conditions under which economic operators from other Member States may undertake operations involving precious metals and precious stones on Romanian territory despite ever-increasing demand from such operators to undertake these operations on Romanian territory;

taking into account the fact that there are no records pertaining to operations involving precious metals performed on Romanian territory by economic operators from other Member States, even though – at least at the level of distance selling – there is evidence of activity by such operators;

through the lack of legal provisions regarding the conditions under which economic operators from other Member States may undertake operations involving precious metals and precious stones on Romanian territory, as well as the impossibility of monitoring their activity on Romanian territory, since their distance selling activities are intensifying and having a serious impact on:

- the economic interests of consumers, through the purchase of unmarked precious metal objects and jewellery, the precious metal content of which have not been checked;

- the economic interests of Romanian economic operators through unfair competition;

- the economic interests of the State through non-payment of related taxes;

in the absence of any legal provisions regarding the conditions under which economic operators from other Member States may undertake operations involving precious metals and precious stones on Romanian territory, under the legislation currently in force, only Romanian economic operators established and organised in accordance with national legislation may undertake operations involving precious metals on Romanian territory. This represents a barrier to the free movement of goods and services, such that Romania could at any time find itself facing complaints before the Court of Justice of the European Union from economic operators legally established in other Member States of the European Union who are unable to operate in Romania, as well as triggering the infringement procedure for non-compliance with European legislation;

similarly, it should be taken into account that Romanian legislation currently permits a negative tolerance of 4 % when establishing the fineness of precious metals, which means that precious metal objects marked in Romania cannot be accepted for marketing on European Union territory, as this degree of negative tolerance is prohibited in other Member States;

taking into consideration the public benefit deriving from market discipline and ensuring the accurate documentation of transactions involving precious metals and precious stones on Romanian territory, as well as from the creation of the necessary legal framework for economic operators from other Member States to be able to undertake operations in a non-discriminatory fashion;

in consideration of the fact that these are matters of general public interest constituting an extraordinary situation the resolution of which cannot be delayed;

pursuant to the notification procedure provided for in Government Decision No 1016/2004 regarding measures for the organisation and carrying out of information exchange in the field of technical standards and regulations, as well as the rules relating to information society services between Romania and European Member States, as well as the European Commission, as subsequently amended and supplemented;

on the grounds of Article 115(4) of the Romanian Constitution, republished,

the Romanian Government hereby adopts this emergency order.

Article I. - Government Emergency Order No 190/2000 on the rules for precious metals and precious stones in Romania, republished in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, issue No 77 dated 29 January 2004, as subsequently amended and supplemented, is hereby amended and supplemented as follows:

1. Article 2(1) is amended to read as follows:

‘1.   a) authorisation - the procedure whereby economic operators are authorised to perform operations involving precious metals and precious stones;

b) authorisation - document issued by the National Authority for Consumer Protection entitling the holder to undertake operations involving precious metals and precious stones;

c) competent authority - any body or authority in a Member State, as defined in Article 2(h) of Government Emergency Order No 49/2009 on freedom of establishment for service providers and on freedom to provide services in Romania, approved with amendments and additions by Law No 68/2010, as subsequently amended;

d) investment gold - investment gold, as defined in Article 313(1) of Law No 227/2015 on the Fiscal Code, as subsequently amended and supplemented. Operations involving investment gold shall be undertaken by physical delivery and by operations in precious metal accounts or securities expressed in gold, held at banks;

e) monetary gold - that part of the investment gold used as an asset, which is held as part of the official reserve of the National Bank of Romania. Monetary gold is generally presented in the form of coins at least 900/1 000 fine, ingots, as well as standard bars at least 995/1 000 fine;

f) test certificate - the document issued by the National Authority for Consumer Protection confirming the precious metal content of an object;

g) distance contract - the contract thus defined in Article 2(7) of Government Emergency Order No 34/2014 on consumers’ rights under contracts concluded with traders, and amending certain legislative acts, approved with amendments by Law No 157/2015;

h) contract outside commercial spaces - contract as defined in Article 2(8) of Government Emergency Order No 34/2014, approved with amendments by Law No 157/2015;

i) responsibility mark - the mark established and registered with the National Authority for Consumer Protection, which is applied to the precious metal objects by the economic operators placing the product in question on the national market and whereby these operators assume responsibility in connection with any hidden defects in the precious metal object;

j) state mark - the official mark, protected by law, constituting a unique symbol for the type of precious metal, next to which the fineness is specified in Arabic numerals, which is applied to precious metal objects exclusively by the National Authority for Consumer Protection, as the competent authority, prior to their placement on the national market;

k) fineness mark - the conventional sign, differing according to the fineness of the precious metal, which is applied by the manufacturer to precious metal objects, expressed in Arabic numerals;

l) marking - the operation of applying a mark to a precious metal object;

m) mark - a conventional sign applied to a precious metal object;

n) equivalent mark - the official mark of other Member States of the European Union, the European Economic Area and Turkey, applied to precious metal objects that have been analysed by a competent authority, in accordance with requirements identical or equivalent to those specified in the provisions of the national legislative acts in force;

o) false mark - a mark applied to a precious or base metal object, which resembles a state mark/official mark or responsibility mark;

p) precious metals - gold, silver, platinum and palladium, as well as their alloys, in any form;

q) silverware and goldware objects - any object manufactured in gold or silver, with the exception of ornamental objects referred to as jewellery;

r) economic operator - a natural or legal person as defined in Article 2(3) of Government Order No 21/1992 on consumer protection, republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented;

s) precious stones - natural diamonds, natural rubies, natural sapphires, natural emeralds and natural or cultured pearls;

ş) placement on the national market - action performed by economic operators whereby precious metal objects are made available on the national market for the first time, for a consideration or free of charge;

t) test report - document issued by the National Authority for Consumer Protection precious metals test laboratory;

ţ) fineness - the proportion of precious metal contained in an object, expressed in thousandths;

u) authorisation holder - the economic operator in whose name the authorisation has been issued;