The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) has announced that it has resumed its membership in The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) after an absence of seven years. The decision comes ahead of the 2023 CIBJO Congress, which will take place 3\u20135 October in Jaipur, India, a key coloured gemstone manufacturing and trade centre.<\/p>\n
Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, President, CIBJO, said, \u201cWe are delighted to welcome AGTA back into our ranks, and particularly at this most appropriate juncture. The upcoming CIBJO Congress will of course focus on all sectors and activities in the jewellery, gemstone, and precious metals industries, but given the fact that it is being hosted on one of the world\u2019s most important coloured gemstone centres, there will be an added emphasis on that critically important business community. AGTA\u2019s voice and participation will be essential.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is also a poignant and emotional element to the happy announcement,\u201d Dr. Cavalieri continued. \u201cJust three months ago we lost our Vice President, Roland Naftule, who was responsible for creation and maintenance of the CIBJO Blue Book series of industry standards and nomenclature. Roland was also one of the three founding members of AGTA and served as its President from 1983 through 1985. AGTA\u2019s rejoining of CIBJO would have meant a great deal to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Founded in 1981, AGTA has more than 1,000 members in the US and Canada and is considered the leading association in the world for coloured gemstone professionals.<\/p>\n
John W. Ford Sr., CEO of AGTA, added, \u201cAGTA is pleased to rejoin CIBJO. CIBJO is a vital group devoted to upholding uniform nomenclature and industry standards built on the expertise of its members. These practices reside at the core of AGTA, which is delighted to realign with CIBJO\u2019s well-respected commissions and efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
AGTA Board President Kimberly Collins states, \u201cI am thrilled AGTA is reacquainting itself with CIBJO, which was so dear to the late Roland Naftule, one of our founding members.\u201d<\/p>\n
To celebrate and cement the reignited partnership, Collins, Ford, and Colorado of Mines (Mines) Ph.D. Student Jenna White will provide an exclusive update on the AGTA and Mines\u2019 Transparent & Traceable Gemstone Supply Chains Research Project at the CIBJO Jaipur Congress.<\/p>\n
The initial stage, including site visits to Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and Nigeria, will have just concluded prior to the Jaipur Congress. The session will serve as an opportunity for the team to share insights prior to the full research release planned for AGTA GemFair TucsonTM<\/sup> in February 2024. The goal of the project is to identify best practices specific to the coloured stone industry and improve transparency and traceability, ethics, environmental sustainability, and human rights within it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) has announced that it has resumed its membership in The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) after an absence of seven years. The decision comes ahead of the 2023 CIBJO Congress, which will take place 3\u20135 October in Jaipur, India, a key coloured gemstone manufacturing and trade centre. Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-21819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bulletin"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n