In its standards development, the RJC commits to:

• be open and transparent in its standards development process
• encourage input from a wide range of interested and affected parties
• treat input from interested and affected parties with integrity and respect, and
• report publicly on submissions received, including how comments have been addressed in subsequent drafting.

The RJC’s Standards Development is founded on multi-stakeholder processes. The standards development process is overseen by the RJC Standards Committee comprised of representatives of RJC Members drawn from across the jewellery supply chain from mine to retail, in consultation with a Standards Consultative Panel comprised of a range of stakeholders, including NGOs, academia, and other standards institutions. A list of participants in the RJC Consultative Panel can be accessed here.

Standards Setting

The RJC aims to conduct standard setting in conformance with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards. RJC’s procedures for standards development include the following steps:

• Proposals for new standards work or revisions from interested stakeholders approved by the RJC Board;
• Gap analysis and stakeholder identification conducted, and proposed scope for new standard / revision prepared by the Standards Committee for public comment;
• Public comment period 1 of 60 days – proposal and draft scope;
  • Facilitate dialogue on input received with Standards Committee and Consultative Panel;
  • Publish summary of comments received and how they are being addressed in the next draft;
• First draft of standards developed with RJC Standards Committee and Consultative Panel;
• Public comment period 2 of 60 days – draft 1 of standards;
  • Facilitate dialogue on input received with RJC Standards Committee and Consultative Panel;
  • Publish summary of comments received and how they are being addressed in the next draft;
• Second draft of standards and first draft of associated guidance developed with RJC Standards Committee and Consultative Panel;
• Public comment period 3 of 60 days – draft 2 of standards, draft 1 of guidance and assessment questions;
  • Facilitate dialogue on input received with RJC Standards Committee and Consultative Panel;
  • Publish summary of comments received and how they are being addressed in the final draft;
• Final draft of standards, associated guidance and assessment questions developed with RJC Standards Committee and Consultative Panel;
• Where outstanding issues exist, a final consultation period of 30 or 60 days (draft 3 of standards, draft 2 of guidance);
  • Facilitate dialogue on input received with RJC Standards Committee and Consultative Panel; Publish summary of comments received and how they were addressed in the final version;
• Recommendation by the RJC Standards Committee and RJC Standards Consultative Panel whether to approve the new standards / revisions, based on the results of the consultations;
• Recommendation by the RJC Executive Committee based on the above recommendations;
• Decision whether to approve the new standards/revisions taken by the RJC Board, based on the quality of the process followed.

The RJC welcomes comments on its procedures, standards and certification system at any time. Comments are logged and will be incorporated into the next available review process.

Please submit comments to consultation@responsiblejewellery.com or see the ‘Contact Us’ page for other contact details.

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