CIBJO’s Precious Metals Commission has released its Special Report on the EU Conflict Mineral Regulations which will be the focus of discussion at the forthcoming CIBJO Congress to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from November 5, 2017. The report, authored by CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri and Karina Ratzlaff, Vice President of the organisation's Precious Metals Commission, focuses on the background and global impact of new legislation passed in the European Union, which is designed to eliminate the import of gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten that has been used to finance conflict.

The report says that the EU move constitutes the second major regulatory regime on conflict minerals (after the United States' Dodd Frank Act) and the third (along with the KP for diamonds) that impacts the jewellery industry. It highlights the differences in the approaches taken by the two regulations on conflict minerals, drawing attention to how the EU legislators have tried to avoid the “unintended consequences” of the US Act, which was primarily passed with a view to regulating the finance sector, but led to what has been estimated to be up to 2 million artisanal miners in Africa's Great Lakes region losing their sources of income.

CIBJO says that according to the new law, European importers of gold above a certain threshold will need to apply due diligence steps that must be consistent with the OECD Guidance or another diligence scheme approved by the European Commission. "The new EU regulations are indicative of the increasing prominence of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, which is rapidly becoming the standard bearer for multiple industries," the Special Report's authors wrote.

A few weeks before the Congress, on September 24, CIBJO will present in Vicenza, together with the Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), a high-level seminar for the European and international jewellery trade, which will look at the new legislation and its impact, and present strategies for companies to incorporate the new regulations in their businesses. Moderating the seminar is Philip Olden, a conflict minerals consultant to Signet Jewelers and the former managing director of the World Gold Council. He will head a blue-ribbon panel of experts representing the European Community, the OECD, precious metals and gemstone associations, leading standards organisations, auditors and responsible sourcing consultants.

CIBJO is also working together with UL, a world leader in standards auditing and analytics, to create a special toolkit to enable smaller and medium-sized jewellery companies, both in Europe and internationally, to successfully become compliant with the new EU regulations.