Description tag a must for jewellery on sale

DUBAI - All jewellery items and precious stones meant for sale at the jewellery outlets here must have a description card attached and the final deadline for the same is June 15, 2004, according to Dubai Municipality.

By (By a staff reporter)

Published: Thu 27 May 2004, 10:01 AM

Last updated: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 11:32 AM

The announcement was made at a seminar titled `Use of Tags on Jewellery and Unmounted Precious Stones', which was organised by the Dubai Central Laboratory Department (DCLD) last Monday at Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A circular for the implementation of the rule had been issued in August last year.

More than 120 jewellery traders participated in the seminar, where they were briefed about the civic body's requirements pertaining to the description card. The participants were given two presentations on the requirements such as information to be included on the tags attached with the jewellery items and precious stones.

Giving an overview of the circular, Ali Elian, an expert at the DCLD, explained that the circular issued by the municipality, to all the stores selling jewellery and precious stones in Dubai, was a result of the civic body's concern to implement the provisions of Federal Law No. 9 of 1993 concerning control of trading and hallmarking of precious stones and metals.

According to the circular, all jewellery or precious stones which are offered or possessed for sale or displayed must be attached with a clear description card and the stores should issue an invoice to the purchaser. A set of guidelines for implementing the circular were also issued in November 2003.

Mr Elian said that in order to implement the requirements of the circular the traders were given a six-month period from the date of its issue. However, the deadline was changed later to facilitate smooth implementation of the requirements.

He said that the inspectors of the Laboratory had started inspecting the jewellery stores from March 1, 2004 onwards after the expiry of the deadline. However, it was halted within a fortnight when it was found that the stores were facing hurdles in the implementation of the procedures. Further discussions with traders followed and a modified set of guidelines were issued.

According to the new decision, the traders were told that the circular should be implemented latest by June 15, 2004.

Edwin Palma, Head of Certification and Accreditation Unit in the Laboratory gave a detailed description about the guidelines for the use of tags in the second presentation of the seminar.

Mr Palma described the basic requirements that include stone number, name or type of stone, weight in carats or diameter in millimetres in case of natural pearl and the conditional requirements that include colour, clarity and cut for diamond, indication of treatment for precious stones and natural or cultured pearls.