In a video conference meeting chaired by Anil Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT) on 4th August, the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) made two submissions on policy related to gold refining.

1) The current differential duty between the gold and the dore should be maintained, so as to avoid any misuse. Also, for sourcing of dore/gold bullion, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines shall be followed through a local association/group like London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) as OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict Affected and High Risk Areas provides recommendations to enable companies’ implementation of responsible sourcing practices with respect to money laundering and funding of conflict, terrorism-related activities, etc., and  also accredits auditors and assurance providers to enable them to conduct responsible gold, silver, platinum and palladium audits. LBMA was actively involved in drafting the Gold Supplement section of the OECD Guidance and continues to support the work of the OECD in the area of supply chain due diligence and related projects and hence in case of OECD due diligence the same would be conforming to LBMA also.

2) Every small jeweller in our country has a small or unorganised refinery and any change made in regulations or standards should be only applicable to refineries who are sourcing dore from abroad and not applicable to jewellers and their refineries, as that would jeopardise their trade which involves  employment of lakhs of people in the country.

The GJEPC is hopeful that these two suggestions will be kept in mind while formulating any policy related to gold refining.