UK Jewelry Body Eyes Role as Trade Police

RAPAPORT... The UK's National Association of Jewellers (NAJ) is seekingan upgraded status that would enable it to police the industry on issues such as lab-grown diamonds following cutsto public funding. The group is in talks to become a "primary authority,"granting it the right to regulate participating members, thereby freeing up localgovernments to focus on non-members. The association would be able to issueguidelines that a regional standards agency has approved, and enforce them byejecting those who fail to comply, Simon Forrester, the NAJ's CEO, told RapaportNews. "UK local authorities have cut back 40% in terms of theirbudget for many services," Forrester said Sunday on the opening day ofInternational Jewellery London, an annual trade show. "Jewelry is not high ontheir pecking order in terms of enforcement. Public health and social welfareare the priority. There's virtually no money to police our industry. If we'reto maintain standards, the associations have to do some of the heavy lifting.Our work with [the standards agency] here, I think, will be replicatedelsewhere." The NAJ has partnered with Buckinghamshire and SurreyTrading Standards, a joint regulator for two counties near London. The programwill go into force in the near future once the UK's Department for Business,Energy and Industrial Strategy has signed it off, the NAJ said. The agreementwill be effective across the UK, as approval by one regional authority grantsauthorization on a national level. The move comes amid a lack of clarity on the important topicof lab-grown diamonds, Forrester noted. The US Federal Trade Commission's (FTC)recent changes to its jewelry guidelines "muddied the waters," as theorganization decided to permit the term "cultured diamond" when qualified byanother suitable word, he added. Some UK synthetics suppliers have usedthe FTC's new rules as an opportunity to claim that the phrase is acceptable,he reported. The NAJ's policy allows only the terms "lab-grown" and "synthetic"to describe man-made diamonds, and disallows "cultured," requiring members tostate clearly that stones are not natural. The NAJ's approved directives will also cover issues such ashow companies publicize promotions and discounts. The group is currently in the process of signing jewelers upfor the program, and expects most of its 400 retail members to participate.Image: International Jewellery London