[caption id="attachment_1238" align="alignleft" width="100" caption="RJC Logo"]<a href="http://blog.biggstock.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/RJC_logo.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1238" title="RJC_logo" src="http://blog.biggstock.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/RJC_logo.jpg" alt="RJC" width="100" height="157" /></a>[/caption]

The  Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) welcomes the agreement reached by  the Kimberley Process (KP) that will enable the renewal of rough diamond  exports from the Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe. The agreement was  reached during the World Diamond Council Meeting in St. Petersburg on  July 15th.

The RJC, like all other stakeholders, is encouraged by this agreement  and looks forward to its full and complete implementation by all  relevant actors.

RJC congratulates all participants on this outcome which was reached  after many hours of diligent negotiation at KP meetings in Tel Aviv and  St Petersburg. RJC particularly acknowledges the efforts of the KP  Chairman, Boaz Hirsch, the World Diamond Council's Chairman, Eli  Izhakoff, the President &amp; CEO of Jewelers of America and Chairman of  the RJC, Matt Runci , Rio Tinto's General Manager of External Affairs  and RJC's Vice Chairman, John Hall, the CEO of the Jewelers Vigilance  Committee, Cecilia L. Gardener, the WFDB President, Avi Paz, the IDMA  President, Moti Ganz, as well as the government and civil society  delegations to the St Petersburg meeting, for their joint efforts in  achieving this successful result.

"The RJC Code of Practices includes four provisions requiring  conformance with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) for  rough diamonds. Full compliance with the KPCS is vital for RJC Members  and for the entire jewellery industry. As part of the RJC Certification  process, RJC Members will undergo independent, third party auditing of  their relevant business practices to evidence their conformance with the  RJC's requirements for KPCS compliance", says Michael Rae, RJC's Chief  Executive Officer.

RJC has established a Consultative Panel of external stakeholders to  engage in ongoing standards development activities with the Council. Of  particular relevance to the recent KP decision is the focus the RJC and  its Consultative Panel will bring to investigating the feasibility of  chain-of-custody certification for the diamond, gold and platinum  jewellery supply chains. A voluntary RJC chain-of-custody certification  for eligible products would be complementary to the RJC's existing  system for the independent third party certification of its Members'  responsible business practices and a logical next step for the Council.

"We are grateful for the positive responses received from the many  stakeholders who have expressed enthusiasm and interest in participating  in the RJC Consultative Panel. Participants in the Consultative Panel  include leading non-government organisations, standards/supply chain  associations, research institutions, and companies that operate product  tracking systems. Future standards for chain-of-custody certification in  the jewellery industry can only benefit from this broad  multistakeholder engagement", says Michael Rae.

Ref: <a href="http://www.gjepc.org/news/view.aspx?NewsId=7770" target="_blank">GJEPC</a>