Chain of Custody Certification (Responsible Jewelry Council)

In March 2012, the RJC launched its Chain-of-Custody (CoC) Standard and supporting documents for the precious metals supply chain.  The CoC Standard is applicable to gold and platinum group metals (platinum, palladium and rhodium).

The CoC Standard aims to support the identification of responsibly-sourced jewellery materials produced, processed and traded through the jewellery supply chain.  RJC defines responsibly-sourced as:

• conflict-free as a minimum, and
• responsibly produced – human rights, labour standards, environmental impact, and business ethics (as articulated in the RJC Code of Practices, applicable to the jewellery supply chain from mine to retail).

Overview of the RJC CoC Standard for Precious Metals

• The CoC Standard is voluntary for RJC Members.  It is also publicly available as a resource for good practice for chain-of-custody type systems.
• Companies throughout the supply chain – mine to retail – can be certified against the CoC Standard, using third party, RJC-accredited auditors.
• The CoC Certification Scope can be defined to cover all or some of a company’s Facilities, with one or more of gold, platinum, palladium and rhodium, in some or all of their production.
• Implementation of the CoC Standard is supported by a guidance document, assessment handbook, assessment toolkit (an audit protocol) and  training.

The CoC Standard sets out requirements for the identification and tracking of ‘Eligible Material’, which once declared by a CoC Certified Entity, becomes ‘CoC Material’.  The following types of gold and platinum group metals are eligible to become “CoC Material”, and may be declared as such by CoC Certified companies:

• Conflict-free Mined Material produced by a CoC Certified Entity, by ASM on its concessions, or under a Recognised Responsible Mining Standard, or Mining Byproduct declared by a Refiner;
• Recycled Material sourced from Eligible Recyclable sources, screened according to KYC principles to avoid illegitimate sources;
• Grandfathered Materials in existence in their current form prior to 1 January 2012

(More information on the RJC site.)