Madison Dialogue Meets to Discuss Fair Trade

A new group, the Madison Dialogue, is trying to formulate guidelines that will ensure that jewelry is made ethically and promotes fair trade, while putting an emphasis on artisanal and small-scale workers worldwide.

The group held a two-day meeting at the World Bank last month to discuss ethical jewelry and small-scale mining issues with representatives from artisanal and small-scale mines (ASM) and their communities around the world.

The Madison Dialogue Ethical Jewelry Summit concluded with a declaration and a decision to form a number of work groups.

The declaration says, “We believe there is an opportunity to make a difference in the lives and communities of artisanal/small-scale miners and other marginalized workers worldwide, by developing and implementing robust standards for the production of ethical and fair trade metals, diamonds, gems and jewelry. We also encourage governments, where needed, to develop policies and regulations that protect these miners, workers and their communities.”

The working groups will discuss what were dubbed as ‘key issues’:

• The development of principles, standards and a third-party assurance system for jewelry products that may be labeled as “ethical” or “fair trade.”
• Large- and small-scale mining interactions
• Artisanal and small-scale metals mining
• Artisanal and small-scale colored gemstone mining
• Artisanal and small-scale diamond mining
• Recycled metals

During the October 25-26 meeting, attendants heard a number of speeches, including one by Michael Conroy who explained why standards and third-party certification are necessary to ensure that “ethical” claims are credible.

The summit met some criticism in the market. One issue that was raised questioned the need for yet another forum that discusses these important issues, possibly weakening other existing forums and harming good will efforts instead of supporting them.

The meeting was organized by the Association for Responsible Mining (ARM), Communities and Small Scale Mining (CASM), the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices (CRJP), De Beers, Earthworks, Ethical Metalsmiths, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), Jewelers of America (JA), Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) / Diamond Development Initiative (DDI), and the Rapaport Group.

Most of the group’s activities are conducted online through its website, www.madisondialogue.org. The summit was the first time the participants met to talk face-to-face.