The CIBJO Congress has for the last few years has been taking up the subjects of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability in the jewellery and gemstone sectors immediately after the Opening Session. This year was no exception. The session was moderated by the CIBJO President, Gaetano Cavalieri.

“There is no debate in our industry whether we should act and seen to be acting responsibly, be it to our employees, customers, stakeholders and the wider society socially, environmentally and in terms of the way we do business,” Dr. Cavalieri said in his opening remarks. “But there are questions and disagreements about procedure and practice, and whether a system that is appropriate for a large corporation can fairly be applied in a smaller company. There are also questions about verification, which in principle is a good thing, but can be costly, putting smaller organisations at a disadvantage. These are issues we must struggle with, and try and find solutions.”

Tyler Gillard, who leads the multi-stakeholder negotiation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, noted that the OECD document is a general one on due diligence that is applicable to all products.

“Companies need to track their supply chain work,” he said. “It’s about building trust and consumers among consumers. We have taken the framework that we developed and it is now applicable to all areas of the economy.”

Edwin Molina, President of Aprecol, the Colombian Emerald Producers Association, stressing Colombia’s commitment to responsible mining said: “Artisanal miners see that we respect them when we interact with them with this policy. They trust us that we are not simply doing it for legal reasons, but that we care about the way they work. Our emerald fund has helped them.”  

Stephane Fischler, President of the World Diamond Council, when asked about the difficulties caused by consensus-based decision-making process of the Kimberley Process, responded by saying that the advantage of such a system is that, once agreement has been arrived at, then decisions are carried out “solidly” by all members.

“The success of the KP up to now has been due to its narrow focus on rebel forces using conflict diamonds,” Fischler stated. “We are in the process of trying to change this. … Changes do not go as fast as we would want, but it does allow participants to put all their comments on the table.”

CIBJO’s Responsible Sourcing Guidance Project Head, Philip Olden, assured members of the organisation’s support on responsible supply chain operations, just as it had helped them with CIBJO’s Blue Books.

Edward Johnson of the Responsible Jewellery Council when asked why coloured gemstones are now included in its expanded scope of operations, replied: “The strongest requests came from our retail members.”

He added: “We are focusing on ruby, sapphire and emeralds because they provide the most value in the supply chain and our Code of Practices now include them. We are happy to receive more comments. We are looking to raise more awareness of our work to promote a responsible supply chain for fine jewellery and watches. I have been shocked at how few people in our industry know what CSR even is so we have a great deal of work ahead of us.”  

Assheton Carter, CEO of the Dragonfly Initiative and Project Director for the Coloured Gemstones Working Group, noted that the coloured gemstones sector is very different from many other areas of the jewellery industry supply chain.

“We had to build a framework for CSR and a common language,” he said. “We developed different standards for different elements of the coloured gemstones industry. Our system is based on enabling improvements in companies’ operations. We will also create a resource centre so that people are working on the same playing field.”

Dr. Cavalieri raised the question:  Are we seeing the creation of an ethical hierarchy, whereby larger firms that can afford to institute responsible sourcing are being seen by consumers as more responsible?

Tyler Gillard said it cannot be said that it’s easier for bigger firms because all companies face their own specific challenges. Smaller firms, for example, can easily streamline policy across their operations, he explained.

Stephane Fischler remarked that we always forget that when we talk about large versus small companies, the large firms only represent 15 per cent of the market.

Edward Johnson said 65 per cent of RJC members are smaller and medium-size companies. He added that there is a lot of work left to do to encourage smaller firms to adapt responsible sourcing standards.

____

Meanwhile, The CIBJO Responsible Sourcing Guidance was presented during a special session of the 2018 CIBJO Congress. It is a document which standardises the manner in which jewellery and gemstone firms should implement supply-chain due diligence.

Philip Olden, head of the CIBJO Responsible Sourcing Guidance Project and the designated President of CIBJO’s new Responsible Sourcing Commission, prefaced his detailed briefing on the aims of the project, by remarking that the document  was created to support and provide guidance to all CIBJO members, especially manufacturers, retailers and distributors. “It also aims to reinforce UN goals, protect the reputation of the industry to fulfil a duty of care,” he said.

Olden added: “We acknowledge there are many challenges: there are different levels of sophistication among small and medium sized firms, and fragmented and multi-layered supply chains. We recognise that this is a roadmap and a path of continuous improvement.”

CIBJO said that at the end of 2017 it had decided to investigate whether the method by which it had compiled guidance and educational support for diamonds, coloured stones, pearls, precious metals, coral and gemmological laboratories could applied to the subject of responsible sourcing.   It asked itself: “Would it be possible to create guidance for responsible sourcing 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?” 

The organisation stressed that the aim of producing the document was not to “compete with any other due-diligence systems”, nor would CIBJO be enforcing it or policing the industry for its implementation. “Like the other CIBJO Blue Books, the standards and guidelines contained in the proposed CIBJO Responsible Sourcing document would be recommendations and guidance, as opposed to a standard or a compliance mechanism,” CIBJO explained.  “However, the guidance should come to serve as a reference for responsible sourcing practices developed and applied by industry organisations and commercial bodies worldwide, while taking into account the challenges of the global jewellery supply chains.”

“We welcome the CIBJO initiative,” said Edward Johnson, Business Development Director of the Responsible Jewellery Council, who presented how RJC membership could support the CIBJO guidance. “We suggest a CSR policy for companies because it provides many advantages: it demonstrates leadership, keeps the industry ahead of legislation, it enables firms to join a community of confidence, to get noticed and create awareness, and improve business relations.”

Erik Jens providing a financier’s perspective to supply chain due diligence, stressed that CSR has become a well-known part of modern business practices. He remarked that it provides companies who implement it “moral credit” in a cynical world. A study showed that firms implementing CSR recorded significantly improved financial performance, he stated.

 Speaking via a video link, David Bouffard, Vice-President of Corporate Affairs at Signet Jewellers, said that consumers’ expectations have evolved enormously in recent decades, and they expect responsible sourcing. Signet created its own responsible sourcing protocols five years ago. “All of our suppliers are required to comply with the protocols,” he said. “We believe it serves the industry as a whole and also underpins consumer confidence.”