The Commission on Precious Metals continues its program for the development of global initiatives in 2014-2015. Its main provisions are legislation regulating the trade in minerals from conflict zones, as well as the procedure for state registration, examination and licensing of chemicals in the EU, within which it is planned to introduce additional restrictions in the precious metals industry in the jewelry industry.
Concerns about conflicts and their unintended consequences were discussed at the World Jewelery Confederation (CIBJO) congress, which was held in Moscow in 2014. Legislation was also discussed in the field of minerals from conflict zones and their unforeseen consequences, especially in the region of the Great African Lakes. There were reports of signs that due to the American Dodd-Frank law, legal mines were closed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries, which gave rise to an even greater degree of exploitation, child labor and human rights violations. Members of CIBJO wanted to make sure that European legislation would not lead to further aggravation of the situation in this sector, and that the preliminary version of the legislation would take into account the interests of all parties, suffering from conflicts in this region. However, EU legislation on conflictious minerals will relate to the American Dodd-Frank law regarding tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold.
The instruction issued by the European Parliament in December last year suggests that new legislation can be implemented through voluntary certification. This legislation will have a much wider range of applications that apply to many sectors of the industry, not just the precious metals and jewelry industry.
In addition, the EU proposed to classify substances such as disodium tetraborate and boric acid as particularly dangerous substances. These chemical compounds are extremely widely used in the jewelry industry, and their inclusion in the list of especially dangerous substances has caused serious concern to CIBJO, as this could adversely affect the entire jewelry industry.