MAY 24, 2017

Gaetano Cavalieri, the President of CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, has had a personal audience with Pope Francis at Vatican City in Rome. It took place on May 20, following a three-day conference of the Centesimus Annus pro Pontifice Foundation, where business, academic and political leaders discussed ethical challenges and strategies, and at which Dr. Cavalieri was one of the speakers.

The private audience took place in the Clementina Hall of the Apostolic Palace, after a Roman Catholic mass presided over by Pope Francis.

“The fight against poverty is not merely a technical economic problem, but above all a moral one, calling for global solidarity and the development of more equitable approaches to the concrete needs and aspirations of individuals and peoples worldwide,” Pope Francis said, speaking to the conference’s participants, before meeting with each one personally.

“As Saint John Paul II frequently insisted, economic activity cannot be conducted in an institutional or political vacuum, but has an essential ethical component,” Pope Francis continued. “It must always stand at the service of the human person and the universal common good.”

The Centesimus Annus pro Pontifice Foundation is an international association of business and professional leaders from across the Catholic world, dedicated to infusing the ethical and social doctrine promoted by the church in economic policies and practices. Its 2017 conference was entitled “Constructive Alternatives in an Era of Global Turmoil,” and in the words of Pope Francis, “explored from various standpoints the practical and ethical implications of the present world economy, while at the same time laying the foundations for a business and economic culture that is more inclusive and respectful of human dignity.”

Speaking during the second day of the conference, Dr. Cavalieri focused his presentation on the fight against human trafficking and corruption, noting that those who are most vulnerable are the weakest members of society in conflicted regions. The business community’s moral obligation is to affect positive change at the grass roots level in such places, he insisted.

“We should help such people develop in the lands of their origin, so that they may integrate into the world,” Dr. Cavalieri said. “Let us examine what are the most important elements that afflict underdeveloped economies and their governments, especially where government is corrupt and the enforcement of law is optional.”

Pope Francis together with participants in the 2017 Centesimus Annus pro Pontifice Foundation conference in the Clementina Hall of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.

MAY 8, 2017

CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri has met with Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament, and discussed the recently approved Conflict Minerals Regulations approved by the EU legislature in Strasbourg, as well as issues related to the taxation on jewellery imported from the Europe Union.

The meeting took place in Arezzo, Italy, on May 6, on the opening day of the OroArezzo trade fair, which was inaugurated by Mr. Tajani.

The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation was approved on March 16 by a massive majority in the European Parliament, and received the green light from the European Council on April 3. It will be phased in gradually, and become fully applicable on January 1, 2021, with the intention being that companies use the interim period to adapt to its requirements.

The new regulations primarily affect all but the smallest importers of gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten, and also refiners and smelters of the minerals within and outside the EU. Not focused on any specific geographic region, they mandate supply chain due diligence from all areas of risk, including a five-step framework for its conduct, which parallels the OECD Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas.

By the end of 2017, the commission should be issuing guidelines on the identification of conflict-affected and high-risk areas from which the relevant minerals are sourced. A list of such areas will be compiled and regularly reviewed by external experts designated by the European Commission, which also intends to produce a global list of responsible refiners and smelters.

During their discussions, Dr. Cavalieri expressed CIBJO’s intention to work together with the European Union. CIBJO, he said, is coordinating together with other representative bodies in the European jewellery industry, and they plan to liaise with the EU to ensure that the regulations are adopted successfully by all sectors of the trade. CIBJO, he stressed, is also committed to defending the integrity of all supply chains in the industry, including those associated with diamonds, coloured gemstones, pearls and coral.

Dr. Cavalieri also urged the Mr. Tajani to work with the jewellery industry to ensure fair reciprocal tax and tariff rates when jewellery is imported and exported. It was agreed that these issues will be discussed further during an official meeting between the EU and a CIBJO-organised delegation.

MAY 2, 2017

Registration for the 2017 congress of CIBJO, the World Jewelry Confederation, is now open. Delegates and other participants may register for the congress, as well as book hotel rooms, via a dedicated congress website located at:  http://www.cibjo.org/congress2017.

The 2017 CIBJO Congress will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, November 5-7, 2017, with pre-congress meetings beginning on November 2. The World Ruby Forum, which is being organised in conjunction with the congress, will take place November 4. The main venue for the CIBJO Congress and the official congress hotel will be the Shangri-La Bangkok.

The congress is being be hosted by the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) and the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand (GIT), both of which fall under the jurisdiction of the Thai Ministry of Commerce.

The dedicated website includes the congress programme and important travel information. An online registration form for the congress is available, as is a link to the Shangri-La Bangkok booking service, which enables participant to book hotel rooms at a special congress rate. Since the CIBJO Congress 2017 will be a carbon neutral event, participants are also requested to complete a carbon footprinting form.

Information about programme being prepared for accompanying persons and pre and post-congress touring opportunities will be added at a later date.

As the official venue for the meeting of the CIBJO Assembly of Delegates, the CIBJO Congress will gather in Bangkok the members of national jewellery and gemstone associations from more than 40 countries and representatives of many of the industry’s most important commercial bodies. The congress also serves as a forum for CIBJO’s professional commissions, and is the venue at which its Diamond, Coloured Stones, Pearl, Coral, Precious Metals and Gemmological Blue Books are discussed and updated.

The CIBJO Congress is also where the programme of World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF), relating to responsible and sustainable activities in the industry, and CIBJO’s ongoing cooperation with the United Nations and its development programme is reported upon.