With fewer than seven weeks to go to the opening of the 2021 CIBJO Congress on November 1, 2021, the second of this year’s CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Responsible Sourcing Commission, headed by Philip Olden, the report recounts how efforts to enhance supply chain integrity during the COVID pandemic continued uninterrupted, and even were accelerated.

“During this time, the attention of consumers, media, governments and civil society in the jewellery industry, its responsible practices and the integrity of its supply chains has continued unabated,” Mr. Olden wrote. “Our stakeholders justifiably continue to hold us to the highest possible levels of integrity and expect that, not only are we doing no harm, but that we are a force for good in the world.”

The report looks specifically at tools and programmes introduced by CIBJO during the past 18 months, all designed to assist members of the jewellery, gemstone and precious metals supply chains implement the principles of responsible sourcing.

Key among them was the launch in April 2021 of the Responsible Sourcing Online Toolkit, which is intended to enable all participants in the sector to do due diligence on their supply chains in accordance with the CIBJO Responsible Sourcing Blue Book. Available at no cost, the Toolkit comprises nine modules, each one of which relates to a specific section of the Blue Book. Each module provides a detailed explanation of that section, and also a number of downloadable files in MS Word or PDF format, which can be used to do the due diligence described. They include templates, forms, sample declarations and additional information.

“CIBJO remains committed to providing guidance, support and education relating to Responsible Sourcing and Sustainable Development in the global jewellery and gemstones industry, and recognises that this is a process of continuous improvement,” Mr. Olden writes.

CIBJO congresses serve as the official gathering place for the World Jewellery Confederation’s global membership, and are also the venue for the annual meetings of CIBJO’s sectoral commissions, where amendments can be introduced to the organisation’s definitive directories of international industry standards for diamonds, coloured stones, pearls, gem labs, precious metals, coral and responsible sourcing, known as the Blue Books.

The CIBJO Congress is also where the programme of World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF), relating to responsible and sustainable activities in the industry and CIBJO’s ongoing cooperation with the United Nations and its development programme is reported upon.