The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) and Fairtrade signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the 2014 CIBJO Congress in Moscow on May 21. 

The understanding stipulates that Fairtrade will work with CIBJO and its members to provide Fairtrade certified gold supplies, and CIBJO will encourage its members to adopt Fairtrade gold and other metals into their national supply chains.

The two organizations will also work together to provide “measurable developmental impacts” for artisanal mining communities and to develop educational programs for the jewelry industry regarding Fairtrade metals and certification.

“The strength of working with CIBJO is that they represent the rank and file of the international jewellery industry and this, alongside their U.N. consultative status, gives small-scale mining communities access to the grassroots of the international jewellery trade with the added benefits that Fairtrade certification can bring, and it’s a pleasure and a privilege being associated with them,” said Fairtrade International’s Fairtrade gold coordinator Greg Valerio in a statement. 

JCK