RJC Accredits First Auditor, BaselWorld Joins as Supporter

The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) announced STR Responsible Sourcing as the first auditing firm accredited by the RJC to carry out verifications of Members’ business practices. This is a major move forward for the organization that was until now largely in a research and development stage.

With the announcement, made at a press conference at JCK show, companies registered as members of RJC can now be audited. With the certification of the first company, RJC will reach its destination as a body that can assure the ethical standards of diamond industry firms - miners, polishers, jewelry makers and retailers.

”RJC has received a number of auditor accreditation applications from other firms and these are currently being assessed under the RJC’s accreditation process,” said RJC CEO Michael Rae, promising that RJC will probably announce four additional accredited auditing firms in the coming weeks.

STR Responsible Sourcing works with over 6,000 manufacturers, importers, raw materials suppliers and retailers assessing the quality, safety and social standards. “We also carry accreditations from the International Council of Toy Industries CARE Process certification (ICTI) [and] the Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production (WRAP),” said Russ Childrey, STR’s director of business development.

An audit is expected to take no linger than a month, Childrey told IDEX Online.

RJC also announced a ‘Supporter’ status, alongside the regular members. This is for firms wishing to support the RJC cause, but which are not part of the jewelry creation process. ABN AMRO ban, a founding member of RJC has switched its status to Supporter, and BaselWorld, organizers of Europe’s largest industry trade fair have recently joined as Supporters as well.