Police logbook: what has changed since July 2025

Since the July 1, 2025, The rules governing the guarantee of precious metals, including the register of purchases and sales of gold, silver, and platinum, are no longer included in the General Tax Code. They have been incorporated into the Commercial Code. The obligations remain the same, but the references to be cited have changed.

The essentials in 30 seconds

• The old Article 537 of the French General Tax Code (CGI), which imposed the register of precious metals, became the’Article L. 834-6 of the Commercial Code.
• THE content The obligation does not change: same transactions to be recorded, same information.
• The register of second-hand items (Penal Code) is not affected by this change.

What changed on July 1, 2025

Ordinance No. 2023-1210 of December 20, 2023, transferred the legislation on the trade of gold, silver, and platinum from the General Tax Code to the Commercial Code, in articles Articles L. 831-1 to L. 835-6. This transfer took effect on July 1, 2025.

For a jeweller, watchmaker, or goldsmith, the key items to remember are:

• Article 537 of the French General Tax Code → Article L. 834-6 : maintaining a register of purchases, sales, receipts and deliveries.
• Article 538 of the French General Tax Code → Article L. 834-6, paragraph 2 : registration of works deposited for sale or entrusted for repair.
• Article 539 of the French General Tax Code → Article L. 834-5 : obligation to only buy from known persons or those with known respondents.
• Article 534 of the French General Tax Code → Article L. 834-1 : declaration of existence to customs.

Customs provides a complete concordance table between the old articles of the CGI and the new articles of the Commercial Code, available on its sheet "Scope of application of the guarantee of precious metals".

What remains unchanged

The transfer is a rewriting of the text, without any new obligations for professionals. The precious metals register must still:

• trace the purchases, sales, receipts and deliveries of works in gold, silver or platinum; ;
• indicate the’identify persons who have sold or entrusted the works, upon justification; ;
• specify the nature, number, weight, title, the entry and exit dates and the origin of each work; ;
• to find at the location where the works are held.

The format and content of the register remain governed by Appendix IV of the French General Tax Code (articles 56 J quaterdecies to 56 J octodecies). A decree dated June 30, 2025, simply updated these articles to refer to the French Commercial Code. As before, the register is neither declared nor approved by customs: it may be kept on paper or using software, under the conditions stipulated in these regulations.

The register of second-hand goods is not affected

The police register kept under Article 321-7 of the Penal Code, which records second-hand goods purchased or received on consignment, is governed by a different system. Its rules (Articles R. 321-1 to R. 321-8 of the Penal Code) have not been modified. For details of these two registers, see our page on the electronic police logbook.

What you need to do

1. Continue to keep your register exactly as before.
2. Update the references in your internal documents (procedures, buyback slip templates, displays) which still cite articles 537 or 539 of the CGI.

Updated October 2026. A new version of Article L. 834-6, resulting from Ordinance No. 2025-1247 of December 17, 2025, will apply from January 1, 2027. It retains the same obligations for keeping the register.

Sources: Ordinance No. 2023-1210 of December 20, 2023; Commercial Code, Articles L. 831-1 to L. 835-6; Appendix IV of the French General Tax Code (CGI), Articles 56 J quaterdecies to 56 J octodecies (Decree of June 30, 2025); Ordinance No. 2025-1247 of December 17, 2025; douane.gouv.fr, "Keeping a Police Register" and concordance table. This article is for informational purposes only and does not replace applicable regulations or legal advice.