The Diamond Box for Dummies

The Diamond Box for Dummies

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According to an RJC auditor, distributors just require to pledge that they carry out strong civils rights due diligence, but do not supply any kind of proof for this. Neither does the Code of Practices need jewelersor other downstream companiesto have traceability or chain of custody of their gold or diamonds. The Code of Practices is also weak in other substantive areas, as an example, on aboriginal peoples' rights and on resettlement.


In March 2017, the RJC had 342 participants that had not (yet) finished the audit procedure that certifies compliance with the Code of Practices. In enhancement, business can join at any type of degree of their procedures. For instance, a tiny subsidiary workplace of a large fashion jewelry business can get RJC subscription, without including the remainder of the company's entities.


The Code of Practices does not need firms to publicly report on the concrete steps they have actually taken to carry out due diligencea core need of the OECD Guidance (Tissot Watches). Its reporting commitments are vague and do not mention due persistance or the demand for firms to report on the steps they have actually taken to determine, examine, and reduce threats in their supply chains

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A second RJC standard, the Chain-of-Custody Standard, promotes traceability and is much more rigorous, however adherence to it is optional for RJC participants. By very early 2018, just 48 of over 1,000 member firms had licensed entities under the criterion, including 13 jewelry experts. The Chain-of-Custody Standard requires companies to establish documentary proof of business deals along the supply chain and to confirm they are not creating damaging influences in conflict-affected and high-risk areas.


Instead, business are permitted to select some "entities" under their control for qualification, leaving other entities of a firm uncertified. While this may enable firms to gradually switch over to more accountable sourcing techniques, the current practice also carries the danger that an entire business appreciates the reputational advantage when most of operations is not in compliance with the requirement.


All RJC member firms have to undergo an audit to show that they are compliant with the Code of Practices, and to obtain qualification. Those business that pick to obtain accreditation for the Chain-of-Custody Requirement have to undertake a separate audit. Audits are based mainly on a review of the firm's written policies and paperwork, and brows through to a "representative collection" of facilities.

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It is not a comprehensive examination regarding whether the firm really applies or complies with its plans throughout its operations. Large firms may have operations in several nations, and depend on lots of distributors, yet still may obtain RJC certification based on visits to only a couple of facilities under its direct control without any type of assessment of several others.


Although audits are supposed to include questions on a broad array of civils rights, auditors are not always qualified civils rights specialists. Once the auditors finish their record, they just submit a summary report of the audit to the RJC, not the complete audit record, which is shared just with the company




While labor abuses are widespread in the market, artisanal mines provide earnings for millions of workers and thousands of mining neighborhoods. Human Civil liberty Watch believes that the precious jewelry additional info market need to make every effort to make sure that their initiatives to reduce supply chain civils rights threats do not lead them to just leave out all artisanal providers from their supply chains as the "course of the very least resistance." Instead, they should support initiatives to define and professionalize artisanal mines and enhance functioning conditions.


The OECD Charge Diligence Guidance acknowledges this and is promoting cost-sharing within the industry. That means, all firms along the supply chain share the monetary worry. A variety of campaigns have actually arised that can assist jewelry experts trace their gold and diamonds to mines of beginning, and much more responsibly resource from the artisanal field.

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Regarding 600 grown-up miners have actually been registered at 6 mine sites; children can not register. Qualification of specific mines versus liable sourcing requirements can supply jewelry experts with greater assurance that the gold or diamonds they acquire from those mines are not polluted by civils rights abuses. Nongovernmental organizations such as Solidaridad and effect can play a vital function in sustaining mines to enhance practices so they have the ability to follow the standard; this may consist of actions to deal with child labor, enhance ecological conduct, accessibility money, and establish direct call with purchasers.


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Two standardscertify artisanal and small-scale gold mines that conform to human civil liberties, labor civil liberties, and ecological standardsthe Fairmined Standard and the Fairtrade Gold Standard (diamond earrings). Depending on the customer's permit with Fairmined, the gold may be fully traceable to the mine of beginning, or might be mixed with other gold.




This quantity is simply a little portion of the gold used yearly by several of the firms checked out in this record. Since very early 2018, eight mines in four countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Mongolia, and Peru) were accredited, with an extra 20 mining organizations working in the direction of accreditation. The Fairmined Gold Standard is presently developing a new "market entry" standard that looks for to help artisanal gold mines at the same time in the direction of complete accreditation.

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It is administered under the umbrella of Fairtrade International, and allows jewelers to trace their gold back all the way to the mine of origin. Fairtrade's initial qualified mines were in Peru. Over the last couple of years, the Fairtrade Foundation, Solidaridad, and other NGOs carried out a program of training and support to artisanal and small-scale gold miners in Africa, and in early 2017, licensed an artisanal golden goose in Uganda.

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