Tuesday April 25, 2006
Goldsmiths waiting for ministry to reply
JOHOR BARU: Having submitted a memorandum last December to the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry to review the first draft of the Hallmarking Act, the Federation of Goldsmiths and Jewellers Association of Malaysia is still waiting for a reply.
The Act, proposed in 2004, will provide a grading system for jewellery products, and requires goldsmiths to send their products to an assaying body to analyse and verify the content. A certificate will then be issued to state the exact content of the products.
The federation feels that under the present system, there are adequate methods of quality control to ensure the consumers’ interests are protected and that the local gold jewellery industry is capable of maintaining high standards of quality control.
The international market had also accepted Malaysian gold products, it said.
The federation feels that the Trade Descriptions Act 1972 and Precious Metal Article 1994 would ensure quality of items.
The memorandum stated that while the federation welcomed the fact that the Government seeks to protect the rights of consumers, such an implementation would affect the livelihood of the goldsmiths and jewellers as it would put fear in consumers.
According to the federation, only Britain and Cyprus have implemented compulsory hallmarking, and both countries are not leading world gold exporters or producers.
Malaysia, on the other hand, is a major exporter of jewellery and a leading gold jewellery producer, with RM1.8bil worth of export last year.
About 70% of that amount was for the Middle Eastern market, making Malaysia the second largest exporter to that region.
There was also concern the Act would increase production costs, especially insurance premiums and increase the risk of robberies during transit to the assay office for grading.
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