\u201cTrust, but verify\u201d is a rhyming Russian proverb (\u0414\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0440\u044f\u0301\u0439, \u043d\u043e \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0440\u044f\u0301\u0439) that entered the English lexicon in the 1980s, when it was popularised by American President Ronald Reagan in respect to nuclear disarmament. It is now becoming a fact of life for all players in the jewellery industry, where doing due diligence to ensure responsible sourcing practices, verifiable supply chain integrity and social and environmental sustainability is becoming a requirement of doing business.<\/p>\n
But the cost of conducting due diligence and becoming involved in projects that promote the UN\u2019s Sustainable Development Goals can be restrictive, especially for smaller and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It is thus a cause of considerable anxiety in the jewellery sector, where most companies are of limited dimensions. This is especially so in Italy, where all but a handful of firms are SMEs, and most are family owned.<\/p>\n<\/div> Members of the “Does Size Matter?” panel during the seminar at the VICENZAORO show in Vicenza, Italy, on January 17, 2020. They are (from left): Giorgio Bodei, Director of Pomellato; Iris Van der Veken, Executive Director of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC); Philip Olden, President of CIBJO’s Responsible Sourcing Commission, the seminar moderator; Moya McKeown, a Sustainability Advisor at Carbon Expert; and Vincenzo Liverino, President of CIBJO’s Coral Commission.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>![](\"http:\/\/www.cibjo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/VO-1.jpg\" "\\"VO")
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