CIBJO’s Coloured Stone Commission (CSC), announced it has completed the compilation of the long-awaited new edition of CIBJO—The World Jewellery Confederation’s Gemstone Blue Book, just in time for the organisation’s upcoming Congress in Vancouver, British Columbia, that will be held July 24-27, 2006. At CIBJO’s previous Congress, which was held in Hong Kong in 2005, there was unanimous agreement on the need for full product disclosure at all stages of the supply chain. The Congress took a number of important steps towards achieving this goal, most notably by giving its stamp of approval to this major revision of the Gemstone Blue Book.%%“The Coloured Stone Steering Committee, whose mandate is to revise the Coloured Stone Blue Book, has been very active since the last Congress,” CSC President Vichian Veerasaksri reported. “It met in Tucson last February mainly to discuss Articles 8 and 9. At that time, the committee members who were present offered their points of view in person, while others sent their recommendations to me by email. As always, there were many different points of view on the issues surrounding gemstone disclosure.”$$In Tucson, a decision was made to have the members of the steering committee submit their countries’ proposals by email for further review and discussion at a meeting to be held in Vancouver prior to the Congress.%%”It is not always simple to reach a favourable conclusion when dealing with trade rules, but it is CIBJO’s task to protect the interests of the consuming public at all times. To this end, the Coloured Stone Steering Committee has spared no effort,” Veerasaksri noted. Unfortunately, CSC President Veerasaksri will be unable to attend the Vancouver Congress. His Vice President, Nilam Alawdeen will attend in his stead, will run the commission meetings and present the CSC report.