Standards development and harmonisation

Chain of Custody Review 2022/2023

The 2017 Chain of Custody standard is under review.

In 2022, the RJC started a major review of the Chain of Custody (CoC), the voluntary standard against which RJC members must demonstrate independently verified conformance to achieve certification. This page includes all details related to the review.

Please get in touch if you have any questions or require more details: consultation@responsiblejewellery.com

About

In 2022, the RJC started the process of a major review of the RJC Chain of Custody (CoC) standard. The update addresses various points, including:

  • removing repetition with the COP (OECD COP 7 due diligence requirements, COP 12 KYC, internal material controls);
  • a potential review of recycled definition to include investment; and
  • incorporating RJC supplementary guidance.

Public Consultation

Public consultation has a critical role in ensuring RJC standards remain robust, relevant, and fit-for-purpose. As with previous major reviews, there will be multiple rounds of public consultation. Dates and instructions on how you can get involved can be found in the Timeline (Revision Process) section of this page.

Your views help shape the future of the watch and jewellery industry. We look forward to receiving your thoughts and feedback on the CoC update through our consultation.

Round 1 of consultation is now closed. Round 2 will commence in early 2023. 

Suggested changes to the CoC standard

To find out more information on specific suggested amendments please refer to the draft CoC document.

Credible standards setting process

This review of the CoC is being conducted as per the ISEAL standard setting code and procedures. More details of our standards setting procedure is available here.

Scope

The Chain-of-custody (CoC) standard is voluntary for all RJC members who handle gold, silver and platinum group metals (PGM). Chain-of-custody (CoC) certification complements certification against the RJC’s Code of Practices, which is mandatory for all RJC members. This standard defines an approach for companies to handle and trade gold, silver and platinum group metals in a way that is fully traceable and responsibly sourced.

The standard and the standard setting process is publicly available to provide guidance.
The RJC standard is applicable to all industry members spanning the global jewellery and watch supply chain from small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to large companies.

The scope of the standards development are directed by the RJCs Theory of Change (ToC), also known as the Roadmap to 2030. The ToC defines what RJC as an organisation aspires to achieve with its members by 2030 through the implementation of the 2019 Code of Practices.

Timeline (Revision Process)

For this major review, there will be two rounds of public consultation (comment period). In line with ISEAL standard setting code, both rounds of consultation will take 60 days.

This comment period has now closed.

This first public consultation ran for 60 days from 17 October 2022 to 17 December 2022.

The comment period is to invite input from all interested parties on the proposed changes to the CoC standard in the format of an online comment form (approx. 3 minutes). The changes are available to review in the draft CoC document.

This comment period has not started.

Details will be published here in due course. Subscribe to the CoC review mailing list to be kept updated.

FAQs

We consult with industry experts, we follow the ISEAL standard setting code and procedures of public consultation. The CoC is then reviewed by the multi-stakeholder RJC Standards Committee. 

This is a major review of the RJC Chain of Custody (CoC) standard. A major review occurs every 5 years. This time frame is in line with ISEAL’s standard setting code.

Yes, we are suggesting that some provisions be removed. This is to avoid repetition and duplication of provisions found in the RJC Code of Practices (COP) standard, specifically: OECD COP 7 due diligence requirements; COP 12 KYC; and internal material controls.

As per ISEAL standard setting procedures, this update will go through two rounds of public consultation, each 60 days in duration. A third round of 30 day consultation will take place if specific substantive, unresolved issues persist, or where insufficient feedback was received.

Yes. Everyone is invited to participate in the public consultation and we encourage you to share your views. Dates and instructions on how you can get involved can be found in the Timeline (Revision Process) section of this page.

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