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RAPAPORT... The Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM) is preparing to file legal claims against six jewelers for selling 24-karat gold below government purity standards of 99.5 percent. According to a report in the Republica newspaper, a government inspection of the jewelers also found silver content had been mixed into the gold. The newspaper reported that a 24-karat gold necklace collected from Shree Sunrise Jewelers had a 97.95 percent purity rate, while a 24-karat gold Managalsutras from Baba Jewelers, Good Luck Jewelers and Suryamukhi Jewelers had purity rates of 97.60 percent, 95.07 percent and 95.07 percent, respectively. A 24-karat gold ring from Shree Ma Aarati Jewelers had a 96.55 percent purity, while 22-karat gold earrings from Shree Jay Laxmi Gahan Griha were only 85.84 percent pure. Gold samples collected from Good Luck Jewelers and Shree Suryamukhi Jewelers had silver content of 3.63 percent and 3.54 percent, respectively. “Silver content in gold jewelry shows that these outlets have been cheating consumers every day. We will book them under the black marketing and some other social offenses and the Punishment Act, 1975,” said Narayan Prasad Bidari, the director general of Department of Commerce and Supply Management. However, the Republica also quoted Mani Ratna Shakya, the president of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers´ Associations, saying that the monitoring teams did not include bullion experts and that the purity tests were unscientific and unacceptable.
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