WHAT DO WE MEAN BY RESPONSIBLE SOURCING?
TO WHOM ARE WE RESPONSIBLE? Employees • Customers • Stakeholders • Society •
A child living in close proximity to a gem-mining district is likely to care considerably less about whether a stone has been heat-treated or not, than whether his drinking water is clean and the ground around him is uncontaminated, and whether the presence of a mine in the area has improved the quality of the local schools and healthcare.
HOW DO WE DEFINE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY? “Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development, while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.” Lord Home & Richard Watts Making Good Business Sense
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, focusing on rough diamonds and launched in 2003, was the first legal framework aimed at preventing goods financing conflict from entering the legitimate chain of supply.
LEGISLATION AIM AT PREVENTING THE TRADE IN GOLD ASSOCIATED WITH CONFLICT The Dodd Frank Act, Section 1508 2010 Regulation (EU) 2017/821, controlling the import into the European Union of gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten from conflict and high-risk areas 2017
SELF ADMINISTERED DUE DILIGENCE
THE DELAY IN DEVISING A VIABLE CSR SYSTEM FOR COLORED GEMSTONES IS PRIMARILY THE RESULT OF AN INDUSTRY WHERE THE PRODUCTION IS DERIVED FROM ARTISANAL OR SMALL- SCALE MINERS
If the coloured stone sector does not act to defend the integrity of the chain of supply, and to demonstrate that it is improving the social and economic wellbeing of all of its stakeholders, and not only its shareholders, then it could find ourselves in a situation that it is pushed to the side-lines.
CIBJO’S THREE BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR A VIABLE CSR STRATEGY 1. It must be defensive. 2. It must be socially activist. 3. It must be inclusive.
We have to create a framework that enables artisanal miners to be legitimately involved in the industry, rather than one that forces them to act illegally.
A FEASIBLE FRAMEWORK FOR RESPONSIBLE SOURCING IN THE COLOURED GEMSTONE SECTOR (1) Government monitoring the point of entry of rough goods in to the chain of distribution, followed by (2) due diligence that is self-administered by the industry.
INDUSTRY MUST TAKE THE LEAD • Liaise with governments, one by one if necessary, to develop the administrative infrastructure and means that will verify and record all coloured gemstones mined in areas under their jurisdiction, and then sealing and certifying them. • Once the goods have entered into the pipeline, members of the trade would be encouraged to incorporate into their management operations a due diligence system. • Offer economic and social opportunities to individuals and communities living in the areas where it has been mined and processed.
DOING NOTHING IS NOT AN OPTION If we do not take the initiative, other will impose their rules upon us, or even worse, shut us out THE FUTURE IS OURS AS LONG AS WE TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT
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