Last December, the Italian Chamber of Deputies approved a bill regulating the field of gemology. This bill may become the world's first formulated law for precious stones and consumer protection rules if approved by the other chamber of the Italian Parliament, the Senate of Italy, and only after that the law will take effect.
At the recent exhibition of VicenzaOro this January, its participants also discussed the law at a round-table conference organized by the Italian Institute of Gemology (Istituto Gemmologico Italiano) in collaboration with the Italian Gemology College (Collegio Italiano Gemmologi) and the National Federation of Jewelry Retailers (Federazione Nazionale Dettaglianti Orafi). During this discussion, the participants were able to express their opinions about how the new regulation will affect every section of the jewelry industry.
The new legislation will come into force sixty days after its publication in the official media in Italy.
It is clear that the law for precious stones can be helpful in all aspects of gemology, not only in production but also for learning purposes at laboratories and schools.
The first draft was released in 2004, and since then it was amended four times to improve its provisions. Last year, the Commission of the Chamber of Deputies merged two drafts offered by opposed political parties in a single text, which was approved as the basis for this law. Proposals introduced into the new legislation were based on observations of local companies and jewelry manufacturers.
An important aspect of the new law is the possibility to give broader rights and opportunities to jewelry manufacturers and to fight against unfair competition. The main task pursued by the industry is to make the legislation able to closely monitor the entire chain of production and use of precious stones to ensure the reliability of manufacturers taking into account consumers’ requests.
The first four articles of the law give the background information regarding the terminology and product mix, which includes new titles for modern time materials used in jewelry. For example, the common name "precious stone" is now not applicable in this law.
The law obliges all manufacturers to provide all the basic information about the stone using the appropriate terminology in each document and on each label and in other cases, when dealing with clients (describing the size of the stone, its weight, shape and how it was processed).
All documents that carry information about the stone are required not only for retailers but also for auction transactions, TV and online sales, etc.
Also, the law will include settlement procedures for claims arising from mismatched declarations and other documents accompanying jewelry.
Precious stones, such as pearls, must have appropriate certification issued by the relevant Chamber of Commerce.
The law is very particular about penalties for violations. Those companies which do not comply with gems certification will be fined for 3,000 to 30,000 euros. And those firms which will sell gems without proper documentation will be penalized for 600 to 6000 euros, while their goods will be confiscated.
Penalties may be increased 10 times in case of sales outside companies and such companies will be excluded from business for a period of fifteen days to six months for repeated violations.
Precious stones imported from other EU countries will be able to go on sale in Italy only if they have certain regulatory documentation which ensures complete protection of consumer rights.
The Chamber of Deputies is facing a rather difficult task as the development of technical regulations always entails a lot of coordination. Sometimes several years are needed to obtain all necessary permits, but eventually all this will bring enormous benefits to the industry. The text of this law is not final and could still be changed. The Senate may easily modify it and then the bill will be re-submitted to the Chamber of Deputies.
However, the bill is treated in Italy quite positively and may serve as a good example for other EU countries.
Veronica Novoselova, Rough&Polished correspondent in Italy
