On the ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation on the mutual recognition of Assay marks on Precious Metal Products

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On the ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation on the mutual recognition of Assay marks on Precious Metal Products

The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated January 23, 2023 No. 189-VII SAM.

To ratify the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation on the mutual recognition of the assay mark on Precious Metal Products, concluded in Geneva on November 29, 2021.

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

K. TOKAEV

Unofficial translation

AGREEMENT between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation on the mutual recognition of assay marks on precious metal products

The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan) and the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation (Switzerland), hereinafter referred to as the "Parties", have agreed as follows in order to promote trade between the Parties:

Article 1

For the purposes of this Agreement:

(a) "Responsible authority" means:

(i) for Kazakhstan: Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

(ii) for Switzerland: Central Office for the Control of Precious Metals;

(b) "National legislation" means:

(i) for Kazakhstan: The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Precious Metals and Precious Stones" and by-laws adopted in its implementation, as well as the national standard ST RK 967 "Jewelry and other products made of precious metals and precious stones. Technical specifications";

(ii) for Switzerland: the Federal Law of June 20, 1933 "On the Control of Trade in Precious Metals and Precious Metal Products", the decree on its implementation of May 8, 1934, as well as instructions on the application of legislation on precious metals and any changes.

gold, silver, platinum and palladium.

(d) "Articles of precious metals" means:

(i) for Kazakhstan: articles, with the exception of coins made of precious metals, made of precious metals and their alloys using various types of artistic processing, with or without inserts of precious stones and other materials of natural or artificial origin, used as various ornaments, utilitarian household items and (or) for religious and decorative purposes.

In this Agreement, the definition also includes jewelry and other products containing parts of base metals, subject to paragraphs 4.7 and 5.1.4 of sections 4 and 5 of the national standard ST RK 967 "Jewelry and other products made of precious metals and precious stones. Technical specifications".

(ii) for Switzerland: articles made entirely of precious metals with a legally established sample standard or articles made of precious metals with a legally established sample standard in combination with non-metallic materials provided for in article 1, paragraph 4, of the Federal Law of June 20, 1933. Precious metal coins are not included here. This Agreement uses products made of precious metal with a legally established standard of samples and base metals (products made of several metals), provided for in Article 1, paragraph 5 of the Federal Law of June 20, 1933.;

(e) "Assay mark" means:

(i) for Kazakhstan: a standard mark applied to jewelry and other products certifying the precious metal sample in such products, in accordance with subparagraph 21) of Article 1 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Precious Metals and Precious Stones";

(ii) for Switzerland: the assay stamp provided for in article 15 of the Federal Law of June 20, 1933.

(f) "Manufacturer's identification mark" means:

(i) for Kazakhstan: namesake is a special mark applied to jewelry and other products made of precious metals and precious stones and certifying the manufacturer of jewelry and other products made of precious metals and precious stones in accordance with subparagraph 4) of Article 1 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Precious Metals and Precious Stones";

(ii) for Switzerland: the manufacturer's trademark in accordance with article 9 of the Federal Law of June 20, 1933, or the collective trademark in accordance with the procedure provided for in article 60 of the Decree of May 8, 1934.

(g) "Legally established sampling standards" means:

- for gold:

999 parts per thousand

750 parts per thousand

585 parts per thousand

375 parts per thousand

- for silver:

925 parts per thousand

800 parts per thousand

- for platinum:

950 parts per thousand

- for palladium

500 parts per thousand

(h) "Sample" means:

(i) for Kazakhstan: sample is the number of mass parts of pure precious metal in one thousand mass parts of precious metal alloy according to subparagraph 19) of Article 1 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Precious Metals and Precious Stones";

(ii) for Switzerland: the samples provided for in articles 7 and 7a of the Federal Law of June 20, 1933.

(i) "X-ray fluorescence analysis" means:

non-destructive semi-quantitative test method for sample determination using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry.

Article 2

Assay mark on precious metal products by the responsible authority:

indicates the compliance of the actual sample, established in accordance with legally established sampling standards.;

guarantees the verification of the precious metal content in precious metal products;

guarantees the identification of the manufacturer's mark on precious metal products.

Article 3

1. Precious metal products imported into one Party with an assay stamp of the other Party, with the manufacturer's identification mark and the sample standard established in accordance with the national laws of the Parties, are not subject to new analysis and branding in the importing Party, provided that these precious metal products comply with this Agreement and the legislation of the importing Party.

2. During customs control, the importing Party submits jewelry and other precious metal products to its authorized organizations, which can check the impression of the assay stamp of the other Party and the legally established standards of the sample in accordance with the national legislation of the State of the importing Party.

Article 4

The owner of the manufacturer's identification mark who has registered his sample in one Party is exempt from the requirement to register the manufacturer's identification mark in the other Party.

Article 5

This Agreement does not prevent the Parties from conducting random inspections of precious metal products that have an assay stamp, manufacturer's identification mark, and legally established sampling standards provided for in Article 3 of this Agreement. Such spot checks do not affect the duration of the import procedure for jewelry and other precious metal products.

Article 6

1. Spot checks of precious metal products should be carried out using X-ray fluorescence analysis.

2. Negative tolerances from the legally established standards of the importing Party's sample are unacceptable.

Article 7

1. Precious metal products imported into a Party without the assay stamp of the other Party, the assay manufacturer's identification mark and legally established sample standards, or if the specified samples do not correspond to the samples, sketches and descriptions that were submitted to the responsible authority of the other Party in accordance with Article 8 of this Agreement, and/or do not comply with legally established standards samples of the importing Party are returned to the exporter with a full indication of the reasons for the refusal.

2. The responsible authority of the importing Party shall inform the responsible authority of the other Party of the cases mentioned above.

Article 8

The responsible authorities of the Parties provide each other with the following data as soon as possible:

(a) Information on national legislation governing the production, trade and control of precious metal products;

b) sketches and descriptions of the assay stamp, as well as samples of assay stamp impressions on metal plates;

c) information about authorized organizations of the Parties.

Article 9

1. Each Party shall take all possible measures in its national legislation to avoid forgery or infringement of the assay stamp of the other Party, as well as any unauthorized modification or deletion of legally established standards for samples or manufacturer's identification mark impressions after applying the assay stamp by the responsible authority and/or authorized organizations of the other Party.

2. Each Party shall take all possible measures if it has sufficient evidence or if the other Party has indicated that:

a) the assay stamp of the other Party is forged or misused;

b) if the product has been modified after applying the assay stamp without the approval of the manufacturer or without applying a sample;

c) the impression of the manufacturer's identification mark has been changed or deleted.

Article 10

The Parties shall seek to resolve disputes regarding the application and interpretation of this Agreement through consultations and negotiations.

Article 11

The Parties, at the request of one Party, hold consultations as necessary to assess the implementation of this Agreement and the need to amend it.

Article 12

Each of the Parties shall notify the other Party through diplomatic channels of the completion of the internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement. This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following receipt of the last notification.

Article 13

This Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period. Either Party may terminate this Agreement by notifying the other Party in writing through diplomatic channels. This Agreement shall terminate one year after the date of receipt of such notification, unless the Parties agree otherwise.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.

Done in Geneva on November 29, 2021, in two copies, each in the Kazakh, German and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of disagreement in the interpretation of the provisions of this Agreement, the Parties shall refer to the English text.

For the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan

For the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation

I hereby certify that the attached text is an authentic copy of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation on the mutual Recognition of the Assay Mark on Precious Metal products in Russian.

Deputy Prime Minister-

Minister of Trade and Integration

Republic of Kazakhstan

B. Sultanov

President

Republic of Kazakhstan

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