Vilnius (19 November 2009): The Lithuanian Parliament ratified today the 2001 Amendment to the Hallmarking Convention. Lithuania is the last of the 19 Contracting States to have ratified. Once the Lithuanian instruments of acceptance will have been deposited with the Convention's Depositary (the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs), the amended Convention will enter into force one months later. The amended Convention provides, inter alia, for the introduction of palladium and entitles the Standing Committee (the main decision-taking body under the Convention) to take binding decisions on technical matter.