Jewellers in
India will be made to hallmark their
jewellery under a new plan by the Indian government. The plan is to make the hallmarking of all
gold jewellery mandatory from 1 January 2008.
The first places likely to implement the scheme are those where there are already Bureau of Indian Standards’ (BIS) assaying centres. The purpose of hallmarking is to ensure that the quality and purity of
gold is maintained and so the consumer gets what they pay for.
Mr L Mansingh,
secretary of the Dept of Consumer Affairs said, "It will be rolled out in a phased-manner from places where there are assaying centres. We will not make it mandatory at places where there are no assaying centres."
Mr Mansingh said that no permission would be given to jewellers to self certify as Indian
markets were not mature to allow this.
He said, "Unless there is credibility in the certification and there is a statute, it is not going to serve any purpose.
"Now we account for only 1.5% of the world’s gold jewellery exports . The moment we have a credible market and we are member of the
Vienna Gold Convention, a big share of the global exports will come here,"
The Vienna Gold Convention is an international treaty signed by countries who subscribe to the treaty. They are mostly European countries however other countries that have independent assay offices follow the work of the Convention, this includes India.
Mansingh states that this will help India’s gold and jewellery
business to grow while protecting the interests of the consumers.
Currently the hallmarking of jewellery is done on a voluntary basis.
A recent survey by the BIS revealed that consumers were regularly being ripped off to the extent that 88 per cent were being sold jewellery of inferior quality.
As part of a country-wide awareness campaign, the government will promote the new scheme by interacting with jewellery manufacturers and retailers up and down the country.
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