Plumb Club Requires Members to Join RJC

RAPAPORT... The Plumb Club has become the first trade group to requireall members to sign up to the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC). The supplier and manufacturer group hopes that other tradeassociations will follow suit, thereby ensuring the entire trade is on the samepage when it comes to responsible supply chains. "Having a standardized, universal code of practicesthroughout our industry that the retailer, consumer and even our government canrely upon to guarantee that these products are the most responsibly sourcedand ethically produced in the marketplace is critical," Michael Lerche,president of The Plumb Club, said last week at a press conference in New York. As a certified member of the RJC, each business's practices will be verified by a third partythrough the council, with an independent auditor checking that it falls in linewith the RJC's code of practices, Lerche explained. The groups believe thiswill help build faith in the industry. "At the RJC, we believe that building consumer confidence isnot only important for the future of our industry, but is also an imperativethat can be acted on today," said David Bouffard, RJC chairman and vicepresident of corporate affairs for Signet Jewelers. Bouffard has also invited other diamond and jewelry groupsto follow The Plumb Club's action. "As chair of the RJC, I ask other trade associations withinour industry to...require your members to join the RJC," he stressed. "The RJChas a team ready and willing to help your organization develop its own model ofcascading membership." Image: From left to right: David Bouffard; Brandee Dallow, RJC North America business development consultant; Michael Lerche; and Lawrence Hess, executive director of The Plumb Club. (The Plumb Club)