Responsible Jewellery Council Announces Healthy Membership Growth At Baselworld
“To advance responsible ethical, social and environmental practices, which respect human rights, throughout the diamond and gold jewellery supply chain, from mine to retail.” Responsible Jewellery Council Mission Statement The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) today announced that its membership has grown from a total of 148 at the end of 2009 to over 190 companies and trade associations throughout the diamond and gold jewellery supply chain from around the world. John Hall, Vice Chairman of the RJC, said, “I am delighted that so many companies are joining their peers in the RJC to advance responsible practices in the jewellery industry. With strong membership growth reflected across the supply chain, the RJC can truly be described as a dynamic international community united in the common purpose of reinforcing consumer confidence. A notable new RJC Member is the Danish Jewellers Association, the first Scandinavian trade association to join RJC. The Danish trade association joins an impressive list of national trade associations that have made the commitment to support the RJC's mission. Others include; the Union Française de la BJOP, the National Association of Goldsmiths, the British Jewellers Association, the American Gem Society , Jewelers of America and the World Gold Council.”, said Mr Hall.”We have joined the RJC because we think it is the right way to work with responsible business practices in the jewellery industry and with our members. All our members are seeking to act in a responsible way and if we want to succeed in being more responsible we have to share international knowledge on responsible practices. We like to create an environment where all responsible practices are on the table so we can share the knowledge and learn from each other. The RJC gives us the platform as an association to follow this policy,” said Christoffer Ritzau, Chief Executive Officer of the Danish Jewellers Association. Michael Rae, RJC Chief Executive Officer, attributed RJC's growth to the increasing recognition by the jewellery industry that credibly demonstrating responsible social, environmental and ethical business practices is vital to enhancing consumer and business to business confidence. “By becoming certified against the RJC System – by upholding the RJC Code of Practices and undergoing third-party auditing – RJC Members have a clear and universally understood mechanism to demonstrate responsible practices. The RJC System is unmatched in any other industry for the quality and breadth of its scope and standards and the integrity and transparency of its developmental process”, Mr Rae said. [w] www.responsiblejewellery.com Responsible Jewellery Council is a trading name of the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices.