Consultation on global responsibility guidelines for the jewellery industry has been extended by five months to March 2006.
The guidelines will be drafted by the Council for Responsible Jewellery
Practices, an industry body formed specifically for the purpose by
several companies in May 2005 (EP7, issue 4, p3). Before it finalizes
the guidelines, the organization is consulting on a draft mission
statement and principles. The council had hoped to finish that process
last month, but said it had extended the deadline ‘in response to
stakeholder requests that an even greater number of interested parties
be given the opportunity to comment’.
One reason for the deadline extension is to attract support from more
of the jewellery industry trade bodies – such as the World Jewellery
Confederation and the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) – that
have ‘expressed reservations’ about the initiative’s goals and proposed
methods. The WFDB said last month that it was concerned the structure
of the council ‘does not account for the role played by representative
organizations in the industry’. An industry source told EP there also
appear to be concerns that small retailers and producers will be
‘squeezed’ by the big mining companies and traders.
However, three industry bodies, the American Gem Society, Jewelers of
America and the UK-based National Association of Goldsmiths, joined the
council last month, along with watchmaker Piaget and mining company
Placer Dome. Cartier and Rio Tinto are among the founder members.
