Warning over gold fraud

Scotland's hallmarking tradition goes back over 500 years

Scotland's gold and jewellery industry will be placed under threat if a new European directive gets the go-ahead, the Scottish National Party has warned.

The European Union is planning to allow manufacturers to verify their own products rather than have them stamped by the independent Assay Office.

SNP MSP Richard Lochhead, the convener of the Scottish Parliament's European committee, claims this will increase the potential for fraud.

He also believes Scotland's distinctive hallmarks will be undermined.

The Assay Office in Edinburgh, which employs 45 people, verifies all gold and jewellery products.

It stamps hallmarks of the Lion Rampant and Edinburgh Castle on jewellery.

The three-towered castle is the ancient hallmark of the Edinburgh Assay Office and has been required by parliament since 1485.

But the European Directive, which is designed to open up the jewellery market, would allow each manufacturer to hallmark his or her own products. Only random post-sale checks would be carried out.

The SNP is calling on the UK Government to oppose a plan by the Italian presidency of the European Union to rush through the directive.