(IDEX Online) – The 2018 CIBJO Congress opened yesterday (Monday) in the Colombian capital of Bogotá, with a strong focus on responsible sourcing in the jewelry industry. <?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>
This included the introduction of a Responsible Sourcing Guidance document, which will serve as a reference for responsible sourcing practices developed and applied by industry organizations and commercial bodies worldwide, and will come to have the status of a CIBJO Book. To oversee the process, a Responsible Sourcing Commission was established.
"At the end of last year, we decided to investigate whether the methods by which we have compiled our standards for diamonds, colored stones, pearls, precious metals, coral and gemological laboratories could be applied to the subject of responsible sourcing," explained CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri. "We asked ourselves, would it be possible to create a responsible sourcing protocol that could be universally accepted, which would meet the ethical standards that our industry expects from itself, and at the same time be acceptable from the perspective of the international community?"
Cavalieri explained that an operating principle of the Responsible Sourcing Guidance document was that it would be inclusive, meaning that there is an expectation that the standards, guidelines and systems that it describes can reasonably be applied by all members of the industry, irrespective of size or financial capacity.
"Like the other CIBJO Blue Books, the standards and guidelines contained in the Responsible Sourcing Guidance document are recommendations, as opposed to conditions of membership. However, they should come to serve as benchmarks for responsible sourcing systems developed and applied by industry organizations and commercial bodies worldwide, and for governments...