CIBJO releases Precious Metals Special Report, looks at lobbying efforts in EU over gold and nickel

With fewer than seven weeks to go to the opening of the 2014 CIBJO Congress in Moscow on May 19, 2014, the second of the CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Precious Metals Commission, headed by Michael Allchin, the report looks at CIBJO’s lobbying efforts in Europe in respect to pending legislation concerning imports of gold from areas of conflict and a redraft of the EU’s nickel release standard.

In the report, Mr. Allchin details trips taken to Brussels, where CIBJO officials explained to the EU Commission why any legally binding legislation in relation to sourcing gold from conflict areas might actually have devastating unintended consequences in those conflict areas, while adding red tape and economic harm to the industry in the European Union.

Mr. Allchin also recounts discussions in Brussels about changing what he describes as “the damaging redraft of the Nickel Release Standard EN 1811,” where slight changes to the method of for measuring nickel release, along with a fundamental change to the way the results of the tests were interpreted, meant that in real terms the amount of nickel release allowed in jewellery was substantially lowered, while a “no decision” category simply created unnecessary confusion.

Such activities, Mr. Allchin stated, shows CIBJO at its best.

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

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The 2014 CIBJO Congress will take place in Moscow, Russia, May 19-21, 2014, with pre-congress meetings on May 17 and May 18. The congress will be hosted by the Russian Jewellers’ Guild, whose headquarters will also serve as the main congress venue. 

The official hotel is the five-star Hotel Nikol’skaya Kempinski, one of Moscow’s most prestigious establishments, which is offering especially low rates for attendees of the CIBJO congress. Located in an historic building that was constructed in 1870, it is located in the heart of historic Moscow, within short walking distance from the Kremlin, Red Square and the Bolshoi theatre.