Portugal's dodgy gold shops will have more rules to avoid as of Monday November 16th, as Portugal’s Food Safety and Economic Authority (ASAE) tries to control some of the more obvious illegal activities practiced by many in this trade.
The first bright idea is that cash payment can only be made for gold items up to €250. Most stolen items will be under this amount or can be divided into smaller sales.
The second is that each store will have to show the day price for gold and other precious metals. Video systems must be in use at gold shops and the recordings kept for 90 days.
ASAE will have the power to shut down and seal the premises of unlicensed operators as long as a license 'appears not to have been applied for.'
Payments over €250 must be made by electronic transfer, by bank transfer or by check, stating the name of the recipient.
A daily register of transactions must be kept by staff, describing the traded item’s weight, the price paid, the payment method used, the identification of the seller and where the item had come from.
This added bureaucratic burden will end up with the Judicial Police, which has to keep records for five years.
Fines for breaking the new rules can reach €200,000 in the case of very serious offenses committed by companies and €20,000 for individual traders.
The new system simplifies the licensing system for those in the trade with a licence lasting five years before renewal.
The Portuguese Association of Jewellers criticized the requirement to advertise the daily price of precious metals as it would "introduce conflict in the trade," a polite way of saying 'competition.'
"The price of an article is based on the price of the raw material, but also business costs, the design, the quality, the market, the packaging, the artwork, profit margins and VAT," explains the association, keen to disguise the parlous prices offered for items of value and the huge margin made on scrap gold.
These new laws are surprising, only as many assumed the gold business, an essential service to thieves, robbers and house-breakers, already was highly regulated due to its association with these criminal elements that thrive due to its existence.
