With five weeks to go to the opening of the 2013 CIBJO Congress in Tel Aviv on May 7, 2013, the second of the CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Precious Metals Commission, headed by Michael Allchin,  the report  reviews legislative changes affecting jewellery, watches and related articles within the European Union and the European Free Trade Area.

In particular, the report outlines the General Product Safety Directive, which is meant to ensure that consumer products do not create risks to health and safety, which applies in the absence of more specific EC standards relating to the product-safety of articles in their finished state.

The report also discusses the expansion of REACH, which is a European Union Regulation concerning the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals, and especially any substances that contain carcinogenic, mutagenic or reproductive toxins. Article 67 restricts the use of items relevant to importers and retailers of watches and jewellery, including nickel, cadmium, azo dyes, chromium VI and, from October 2013, lead.

Also featured is EU RoHS Directive, also known as RoHS 2, which restricts of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

To download a full copy of the report, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

With six week to go to the opening of the 2013 CIBJO Congress in Tel Aviv on May 7, 2013, the first of its commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Marketing & Education Commission, headed by Jonathan Kendall, the report says that Corporate Environmental Impact will be a key concern of consumers in coming years, and one which the industry has to take note of.

“We only have to look at the headlines in 2012 to understand consumer concerns – pollution in Beijing and Hong Kong, massive storms in the United States, and the droughts in India and Africa show us why multitudes of people recognize the major issues related to the environment,” Mr. Kendall writes. “No one can deny the management of Corporate Environmental Impact has become a hot topic in the world today, especially in the minds of 15-35 year old women, a key group of purchasers in the jewellery industry.

The report also looks at market expectation for 2013, suggesting that jewellery industry forecasts are for positive growth of 5 percent-plus, driven by greater political stability in China, reasonable growth in United States, and potentially a more positive year in India.

To download a full copy of the report, PLEASE CLICK HERE

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The 2013 CIBJO Congress will take place at the Dan Panorama Convention Centre in Tel Aviv, Israel, from May 7 to May 9, 2013, with pre-congress meetings starting on May 5. More information is available on the dedicated 2013 CIBJO Congress website.

Fiera di Vicenza has been accredited through CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, to plan and implement a United Nations-endorsed Corporate Social Responsibility programme for the international jewellery industry. The programme, which mobilises the jewellery sector in the UN’s mission to realize the Millennium Development Goals, is the key element in CIBJO’s formal relationship with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Fiera di Vicenza’s position in the programme was confirmed this week at the UN headquarters in New York, where CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri and Fiera di Vicenza Executive Director Corrado Facco met with Nassir Abdulaziz Al Nasser, UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, and President of the 66th General Assembly of the United Nations; Muna Rihani Al-Nasser, Chair of the UN Women for Peace; Dr. Hanifa Mezoui, Senior Advisor, Humanitarian Affairs and Civil Society at the UN Alliance of Civilizations; well as with other senior UN and ECOSOC officials.

“We consider this to be a critical step in advancing the principles of corporate responsibility in the jewellery industry,” said Dr. Cavalieri. “When CIBJO became officially associated with the United Nations seven years ago, our worldwide community committed itself to participating in the economic and social development of the countries in which we have a vested stake. But, to do this, it is essential that we are able to reach and educate industry members across the globe. Fiera di Vicenza, as a leading industry trade show organiser, educator and service provider, has the infrastructure, experience, talent and determination to enable us to get the job done.”

“Fiera di Vicenza is honoured to be part of the process,” said Mr. Facco, following the meetings in New York. “We have been strong supporters of CIBJO’s programme with the United Nations for several years already, and we are happy to be able to upgrade our role. As a service and content provider our mission is to enhance the position of the jewellery industry. CSR is not only the right way to go morally and ethically, but is also correct from a strategic perspective. Jewellery may be considered as a luxury, non-essential product, but the world should come to know that the jewellery business and the revenues it generates are absolutely essential factors in the wellbeing of millions of ordinary people living in the developing world.”

In 2006 CIBJO became the first and only organisation in the jewellery sector to receive official consultative status with ECOSOC, and, part of the process, in 2009 it set up the World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF), whose goal it is to establish programmes that will educate members of the diamond, gemstone and jewellery industries about the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility, and how they may implement these in their businesses.

Fiera di Vicenza was an early supporter of CIBJO’s CSR programme and WJCEF. In September 2010, it participated in two CSR workshops organised by CIBJO and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), in the United Nations Pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, China. In January 2011 it hosted a high-level CSR seminar organised by WJCEF at the VICENZAORO jewellery trade show. In May 2012, it hosted a WJCEF seminar conducted by UNITAR at the World Jewellery Forum in Vicenza, as well as the 2012 CIBJO Congress and the 8th Annual Meeting of the World Diamond Council.

Mr. Facco also serves as President of CIBJO’s International Trade Show Commission, which was established in 2012 and counts among its goals the promotion of CSR principles through jewellery industry trade shows worldwide.

Registration is now open for the 2013 annual congress of CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation.  A dedicated 2013 CIBJO Congress website has been launched at http://congress2013.cibjo.org/, and it enables participants to register directly, as well as reserve hotel rooms at preferential congress rates.

The 2013 CIBJO Congress will take place in Tel Aviv, Israel, May 7-9, 2013, with pre-congress meetings beginning on May 5. It will be hosted by the Israel Diamond Institute Group of Companies and will take place at the Dan Panorama Convention Centre.

In addition to the registration and booking module, the CIBJO Congress website includes a preliminary congress programme, information about traveling to Israel, and registration for the complimentary tours of Jerusalem and Jaffa that will be provided to persons accompanying CIBJO Congress delegates.

There are two congress hotels from which to select, the David Intercontinental Tel Aviv and the Dan Panorama Tel Aviv. Both are located on the Tel Aviv seafront and are within short walking distance from the congress venue. Both hotels are offering special rates during the event, and these will be obtained automatically when booking via the congress website.

Serving as the official venue for meetings of the CIBJO Assembly of Delegates, the 2013 CIBJO Congress will gather in Tel Aviv 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, Precious Metals and Gemmological Blue Books are discussed and updated.

CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, will hold its 2013 annual congress in Tel Aviv, Israel, May 7-9, 2012, with pre-congress meetings beginning on May 5. The congress will be hosted by the Israel Diamond Institute and will take place at the Dan Panorama Hotel.

Serving as the official venue for meetings of the CIBJO Assembly of Delegates, the 2013 CIBJO Congress will gather in Tel Aviv 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, Precious Metals and Gemmological Blue Books are discussed and updated.

“We are thrilled to be able to hold the CIBJO Congress in Israel, and thank the chairman and Board of Directors of the Israel Diamond Institute for their generosity in issuing this invitation,” said Gaetano Cavalieri, President of CIBJO. “Israel is known primarily as one of the world’s largest diamond and gemstone centres, but it also is an important jewellery manufacturer in its own right, and a hothouse for the development of much of the most sophisticated technology used in our industry today. The congress will provide our members with a fascinating insight into this exciting country.”

“We will be privileged to welcome the leadership of the world’s jewellery industry to Tel Aviv and to be able to extend our hospitality,” said Moti Ganz, Chairman of the Israel Diamond Institute. “They will be visiting a country that, as a leading diamond trading and manufacturing centre, plays an absolutely fundamental role in the life of the diamond and jewellery industries, reporting last year a net turnover of rough and polished diamonds worth close to $17 billion. Our commitment to the health and wellbeing of our business and its stakeholders is absolute, and in this respect we are keen to support the dialogue and cooperation facilitated by CIBJO. It will be a wonderful congress, which will afford the CIBJO membership the opportunity of learning about our centre, and also experiencing first hand Israel and its ancient history.”

As was the case in 2012, the 2013 CIBJO Congress will be preceded by the Annual Meeting of the World Diamond Council.

CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, has announced the launch of its new website, located on the Internet at www.cibjo.org.

With a slick new design that is reminiscent of its earlier website, the new edition provides a wealth of information about CIBJO and its activities, links to its national association and commercial members from around the world, and enables the immediate download of CIBJO’s widely followed sets of industry standards and nomenclature, known as the Blue Book, as well as a series of industry guides.

“Our objective in upgrading the website was to make as many as of the products and services that we provide the jewellery and gemstone industries immediately available,” said CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri. “CIBJO’s covers a very broad spectrum of issues, ranging from Corporate Social Responsibility; the international harmonization of standards and nomenclature for diamonds, coloured gemstones, pearls, precious metals and gem labs; and the marketing and promotion of jewellery in the consumer markets. We do this for the benefit of the industry in general, and our intention is that, to the greatest degree possible, what we produce is made freely available.”

From the home page of the new CIBJO website, users can immediately download in PDF format each of CIBJO Blue Books. Via the newly added Resources section, users can view and order CIBJO’s expansive “Retailers Reference Guide,” which is an in-store resource designed for the use of sales staff. The section also enables the direct download of the “Retailers Guide to Marketing Diamond Jewellery,” a 99-page book in PDF format; two booklets dealing with responsible business practices – “A Jewellery Retailers Guide to Consumer Trust” and “Responsible Luxury;” and a set of illustrated flyers clearly explaining for sales staff and customers the terms caratage, cut, colour and clarity for rubies, emeralds and sapphires, as well as providing information relating to gemstone modifications and value.