Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) Announces Updates of the Codes of Practices and Chain of Custody Standards.

10 Dec 2024

The RJC’s standards enable companies across the entire supply chain, from mining to retail, to integrate responsible business practices into their management systems and daily operations. There are currently two standards available to RJC members: RJC Code of Practices (COP) and RJC Chain of Custody (COC). Through the implementation of the Code of Practices, members contribute towards the United Nations 2030 agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. In brief:

• The COP provides a common standard for ethical, social, human rights and environmental practices across mining, laboratories, precious metals, diamonds and coloured gemstones.
• The COC defines an approach for companies to handle and trade gold, silver and platinum group
  metals in a way that is fully traceable and responsibly sourced.

In 2022, the RJC started the process to update the COC standard and in 2021 for the COP standard in line with ISEAL requirements. During the three years for COP and two years for COC consultation process the RJC received over 1,200 feedback comments from a diverse range of industry and non-industry stakeholders. The revision of the standards was made possible through the collaborations and contributions of a dedicated team of professionals and consulting experts including the RJC multi-stakeholder Standards Committee made up of brands, gold refiners, manufacturers, trade associations and representatives from other RJC aligning schemes. This included three intense rounds of 60-day public consultations for the COP and COC; with the COC including a 30-day public consultations focused solely on ‘recycled’.

As a key topic of definition for 2024 ‘recycled’ precious metals the COC standard has been updated to recognise three main types of eligible material: Pre-Consumer, Post Consumer, Waste and a mix of the three.

The RJC have used the same definitions and categorisation as International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) although their definition is only for gold and the RJC standard has been broadened for all precious metals. The RJC COC update also requires enhanced transparency by requiring declarations of the type of material included. The RJC worked with not only ISO but also London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), World Gold Council (WGC) and further special interest groups including Union Française de la Bijouterie, Joaillerie, Orfevrerie, des Pierres & des Perles (BJOP), Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) and the Precious Metals Impact Forum (PMIF).

For the COP standard, key topics for 2024 were human rights, climate and environmental requirements, supply chain, diversity and inclusivity. A greater focus and guidance on Human Rights due diligence aligned with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This is already an important provision in the COP Standard, and we hope the additional guidance will provide further support to help our members develop appropriate approaches to conformance.

In summary to break down updates for the COP and COC - In brief:

COP Standard:

• Expanded provisions covering human rights due diligence, grievance mechanisms, supply chain due diligence, claims and greenhouse gas emissions.
• Significant updates on inclusivity, diversity, strengthening environmental requirements and more alignment with emerging standards for mining and mineral processing entities.

COC Standard:

• Removal of duplication with COP on OECD due diligence, Know Your Customer Standard (KYC), and internal material controls.
• Enhanced recycled materials definition with additional due diligence and disclosure.
• Clearer guidance for product declarations and claims, outsourcing and service providers controls, and additional reporting requirements for refiners.

COP and COC guidance documents support members in implementing the requirements with interpretation of the Standard. Both updated standards adhere to the ISEAL Standard Setting Code of Good Practice, ensuring a credible, transparent process that incorporates a wide range of stakeholder feedback. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who got involved across the full watch and jewellery supply chain and look forward to working with our members and auditors to implement these enhanced standards and advance our shared goals for a sustainable future.

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Source: Responsible Jewellery Council