THE specifications of gold in the jewellery sector which were adopted by Guyana in 2010 as part of a CARICOM initiative — “that were adopted as recommended and voluntary” — have now been made compulsory by Cabinet.“What that means is that from henceforth, the producers (and) the retailers would be obliged to adopt these standards, and a major feature of these standards is the provision to the purchaser of information that deals with the carat content of the material and the alloys used in perfecting the structure of the utensil,” Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon explained.

Speaking at his usual post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the President, in Georgetown, Luncheon said that, in 2010, there was no compulsion on the jewellers and those who worked with gold for ornamental purposes to abide by these standards.

“Those standards had quite a bit to do with the carat (the amount of gold in a specimen) and it also had to do with alloys that had to be used to make the gold utensils, articles, more malleable for the purposes of the design,” he said.

He informed that Cabinet, at its meeting last Tuesday, was provided with a presentation from Minister Irfaan Ali on the status from 2010 to now. “He indicated that after a series of consultations and engagements with stakeholders in this sector of the retail gold economy, there was an understanding reached, based on which Cabinet made those standards absolute, compulsory.

“So, from henceforth, the gold jewellers and the retailers of gold jewellery would be under a legal obligation to make available to purchasers of their products information about these standards. They are now compulsorily enforceable, and (are) being applied by the investigators of the Bureau of Standards,” Dr. Luncheon disclosed.

(By Telesha Ramnarine )