(IDEX Online) – The Board of Directors of CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, has approved the first edition of the Responsible Sourcing Book, which provides a framework and guidance for due diligence related to the responsible sourcing of gemstones and precious metals in the jewelry sector. <?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>
It becomes the latest in CIBJO's Blue Book series of definitive industry guides for standards and nomenclature, joining the Blue Books for diamonds, colored gemstones, pearls, precious coral, precious metals and gemological laboratories, CIBJO said.
The new Responsible Sourcing Book is the product of a year-long project, which included the creation of the CIBJO Responsible Sourcing Commission and a policy document that was presented at the 2018 CIBJO Congress in Bogotá in November. Before its release, it was subject to a rigorous internal and external review process that included experts both from the jewelry sector and the international community.
"Recommending guidelines and procedures by which participants in the jewelry supply chain may undertake supply-chain due diligence to support responsible sourcing, the Responsible Sourcing Book is designed to serve as guidance for ethical business practices and supply-chain due-diligence systems in the jewelry sector. It is not a definitive code of practice in and of itself and cannot be described or interpreted as a compliance mechanism or chain of custody."
Referencing the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, the Responsible Sourcing Book insists on compliance with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and the World Diamond Council's System of Warranties for diamonds, and supports the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business...