Although many gold traders have suggested extending the effective dateof a new circular on jewelry quality management, the Ministry of Scienceand Technology still insists on applying the circular from early thismonth to protect the interests of consumers, a local newspaper has said.
Accordingto the Saigon Times Daily, Circular 22/2013/TT-BKHCN, which was issuedby the ministry last September and took effect on June 1, regulatesmanagement and measurement policies for the gold trading business.
Underthe document, the standards of quality and measurement of the goldjewelry items traded on the local market must be written in a code withthe correct gold content.
The circular aims to help reducesubstandard gold products on the market and serve as a more effectivelegal tool for management agencies to tackle violations.
However,local traders claimed that they had been on tenterhooks as the timefrom the circular’s date of issuance to that of coming into force wastoo short for them to make necessary preparations and manage theirinventory.
Nguyen Hoang Linh, head of the ministry’s Directoratefor Standards, Metrology and Quality, said Circular 22 did not mentionthe concept of ‘inventory’ and that all jewelry items available on themarket must meet quality requirements set by the circular early thismonth.
In the past nine months, gold traders should have finishedpreparations to meet requirements by the circular and solved allsubstandard jewelry items. Consumers had the right to choose the itemswith various gold contents and prices and to buy those with the correctgold content announced by producers, Linh said.
In fact, mostjewelry products on the market have been made without codes indicatingclear gold contents. As a result, many people pay for the gold jewelryitems they believe to have sufficient gold content but when they sellthe products, they receive far less money than they expect because thegold content is announced much lower.
For instance, most 18-caratjewelry whose at least 75 percent of the content should be pure goldbut the real content is only 66 percent gold on the domestic market.
Therefore,Nguyen Van Dung, Chairman of the Saigon Jewelry Association, said thecircular was a legal foundation to restore order on the gold jewelry andfine arts market and to protect the interests of customers.-VNA
Accordingto the Saigon Times Daily, Circular 22/2013/TT-BKHCN, which was issuedby the ministry last September and took effect on June 1, regulatesmanagement and measurement policies for the gold trading business.
Underthe document, the standards of quality and measurement of the goldjewelry items traded on the local market must be written in a code withthe correct gold content.
The circular aims to help reducesubstandard gold products on the market and serve as a more effectivelegal tool for management agencies to tackle violations.
However,local traders claimed that they had been on tenterhooks as the timefrom the circular’s date of issuance to that of coming into force wastoo short for them to make necessary preparations and manage theirinventory.
Nguyen Hoang Linh, head of the ministry’s Directoratefor Standards, Metrology and Quality, said Circular 22 did not mentionthe concept of ‘inventory’ and that all jewelry items available on themarket must meet quality requirements set by the circular early thismonth.
In the past nine months, gold traders should have finishedpreparations to meet requirements by the circular and solved allsubstandard jewelry items. Consumers had the right to choose the itemswith various gold contents and prices and to buy those with the correctgold content announced by producers, Linh said.
In fact, mostjewelry products on the market have been made without codes indicatingclear gold contents. As a result, many people pay for the gold jewelryitems they believe to have sufficient gold content but when they sellthe products, they receive far less money than they expect because thegold content is announced much lower.
For instance, most 18-caratjewelry whose at least 75 percent of the content should be pure goldbut the real content is only 66 percent gold on the domestic market.
Therefore,Nguyen Van Dung, Chairman of the Saigon Jewelry Association, said thecircular was a legal foundation to restore order on the gold jewelry andfine arts market and to protect the interests of customers.-VNA
