The Assembly of Delegates, the decision-making body of CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation, has unanimously elected Gaetano Cavalieri to another term as CIBJO president. Cavalieri’s re-election along with the naming of new board members happened Thursday, the final day of the CIBJO Congress 2006 in Vancouver.

Cavalieri has now served as president of CIBJO for more than five years. He also serves as president of the Italian Federation of Gold, Silver and Jewellery Wholesalers (Federazione Nazionale Grossisti Orafi Gioiellieri Argentieri), which is based in Rome, and runs his own wholesale company, which was established in Sicily nearly 200 years ago. Moreover, he serves as chief financial officer of the World Diamond Council, acts as a consultant to the Italian Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and to the European Economic Commission in the areas of harmonization of standards and value added tax on gold, and has been delegate to World Trade Organization since 2000.

Along with Cavalieri, CIBJO elected the following officers:

PRESIDENTIAL COUNCIL
Marc-Alain Christen (Financial Officer)
Matthew A. Runci
Richard Peplow
Ernie Blom
James Evans Lombe
Cecilia Gardner
ABN AMRO Bank representative (to be announced by ABN AMRO)
James Courage, Platinum Guild International

SECTOR 1
President: Uri Ariel, Canada
Vice-President: Aaron Shum, People’s Republic of China (Hong Kong)

SECTOR 2
President: John Howie, Australia
Vice-President: Bernadette Pinet-Cuoq, France

SECTOR 3
President: Roland Naftule, USA
Vice-President: Thomas Lind, Germany
Vice-President: Harry Levy, U.K.

COLOURED STONE COMMISSION
President: Vichian Veerasaksri, Thailand
Vice-President: Nilam Alawdeen, Japan

PEARL COMMISSION
President: Martin Coeroli, France (French Polynesia)
Vice-President: Shigeru Akamatsu, Japan

GEMOLOGICAL COMMISSION – Dealing with Gemological and Grading issues
President: Héja Garcia-Guillerminet, France
Vice-President: Jean-Pierre Chalain, Switzerland

DIAMOND COMMISSION
President: Moti Besser, Israel
Vice-President: Tim Dabson, UK

MARKETING & EDUCATION
President: Tawhid Abdullah, United Arab Emirates
Vice-President: Jonathan Kendall, UK

PRECIOUS METALS COMMISSION
President: Gianni Cacchione, Italy
Vice-President: Michael Allchin, UK

ETHICS COMMISSION
President: Matthew A.Runci, USA
Vice-President: James Evans Lombe, UK
Vice-President: Cecilia L.Gardner, USA

In other action during the four-day event, the Assembly of Delegates did the following:

* Approved updates to CIBJO’s Blue Books on Diamonds, Pearls, and Colored Stones.

* Accepted a resolution by which the Laboratory Commission will be dissolved in its current form, and it will now be known as the Gemmological Commission. As such, it will no longer concern itself with the business aspects of laboratories, but it will deal exclusively with gemological and technical aspects concerning the trade and laboratories.

* Agreed that CIBJO joins efforts by the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association to negotiate with the laboratories about grading synthetic diamonds with wording that is distinct and different from that used for diamonds mined in a natural environment.

* Approved a resolution proposed by the Ethics Commission that called on CIBJO members to ensure that companies with whom they are affiliated fully implement the World Diamond Council System of Warranties, and that each CIBJO member monitor the implementation of the World Diamond Council System of Warranties, and, if necessary, take disciplinary action against those members that do not comply.

* Agreed that the Ethics Commission would study the issues in the colored gemstone, pearl and precious metals sectors, with the aim of formulating strategies for dealing with these issues.

* Agreed that the Sterling Silver Commission will be called the Precious Metals Commission, and would expand its focus to include gold and platinum.

The site of the next CIBJO Congress is Cape Town, South Africa, scheduled for March 2007.

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