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Press Release: The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) completed a key round of engagement with the Indian industry during a weeklong series of outreach sessions, one-on-one meetings with RJC members, key industry stakeholders and prospective members. The information sessions, held in Mumbai and Surat, focused on RJC’s ongoing engagement plans in India, as well as the new code of practices (COP) and how it can assist the Indian industry with its new provenance claims and human rights provisions. More than 130 participants attended.
Presented by RJC’s interim CEO, Catherine Sproule, and director of standards development, Fiona Solomon, the week provided RJC with valuable insight into how it can further contribute to India’s dynamic manufacturing and jewelry sector via the RJC certification program. The RJC seeks to enhance local engagement and member support and India is a top priority region for 2014. RJC returns to India in April with an emphasis on additional training on the new COP and further one-on-one meetings. Plans are underway to attend the July IIJS trade fair in Mumbai. “There were key outcomes from the week spent in Mumbai and Surat. RJC has crystallized plans for an India-RJC engagement forum, building from a key committee that contributed valuable feedback to the development of the new COP. Also, the information sessions on the new COP allowed RJC to listen and respond to viewpoints from this very key market,” said Sproule.
Representatives from RJC members Rio Tinto, Rosy Blue, D. Navinchandra, Venus Jewel and C. Dinesh & Co. presented at the seminars and talked about their commitment to RJC and the benefits of RJC certification.
In other news, RJC accredited two additional India-based auditing firms, ISOQAR (India) Pvt. Ltd and Intertek through its India operations. These two firms will be added to the list of RJC accredited auditors on the RJC website. RJC continues to work to expand the pool of auditors to service RJC’s growing membership and the demand for certification.
“Intertek India is proud to be accredited by the Responsible Jewellery Council. The audit services we can now provide to RJC members will help them maximize the value of their business and also create a more effective management environment that aids in minimizing risk,” said Christophe Liebon, the vice president of Intertek’s supplier management group.
Suhas Risbood, the managing director of ISOQAR (India), said, “We are delighted to become RJC accredited auditors. India has a dominant position in the jewelry industry and as such, is an important region for us. ISOQAR India can now provide audit services against the RJC COP to its members. The RJC certification reinforces ISOQAR India’s commitment to provide its customers a superior service experience based on trust, reliability and transparency. We hope to enable businesses of all sizes minimize risk and control environmental impact.”
About Intertek
Intertek is the industry leader with over 36,000 people in 1,000 locations in over 100 countries. Whether your business is local or global, we can ensure your products meet quality, health, environmental, safety, and social accountability standards for virtually any market around the world. We hold extensive global accreditations, recognitions, and agreements, and our knowledge of and expertise in overcoming regulatory, market, and supply chain hurdles is unrivalled.
About ISOQAR
Part of ISOQAR, ISOQAR India was conceived in the year 2006 by former employees of KPMG and today provides certification services to large Indian and overseas clients. In India ISOQAR is among the premium certification bodies with a focus on providing excellent quality service. All founder members of ISOQAR India have been in the certification business for the past 12 years and have more than 2,500 plus audit experience across industries and across the globe.
The Responsible Jewellery Council
The Responsible Jewellery Council is an international not-for-profit standards and certification organization. It has more than 460 member companies that span the jewelry supply chain from mine to retail. RJC members commit to and are independently audited against the RJC COP – an international standard on responsible business practices for diamonds, gold and platinum group metals. The COP addresses human rights, labor rights, environmental impact, mining practices, product disclosure and many more important topics in the jewelry supply chain. RJC also works with multi-stakeholder initiatives on responsible sourcing and supply chain due diligence. The RJC’s chain-of-custody certification for precious metals supports these initiatives and can be used as a tool to deliver broader member and stakeholder benefit. The RJC is a full member of the ISEAL Alliance – the global association for sustainability standards.
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