FAQs
Find the answers to the questions we’re most commonly asked
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Standards
The RJC is unable to review your self-assessment document, members are best placed to complete and objectively review their own self-assessment due to their knowledge of their own operations, procedures, policies, knowledge of local applicable law, etc.
In addition, the COP Guidance document is a great resource for helping members to implement the COP provisions and requirements. The guidance also includes a variety of templates and checklists. We also have a toolkit page that includes all our toolkits to support you in implementing the COP, also containing a variety of tools, checklists and templates.
If you do have any specific questions around certain provisions or non-conformances, please reach out to training@responsiblejewellery.com and indicate the key areas you need support on and we can suggest some steps, provide some resources and guidance to support you.
Sourcing exclusively from 2019 COP certified suppliers is not enough to show compliance with COP, even if they provide their certificate, as their certificate does not include any information regarding the origin of the materials or products you are purchasing from them or provide you a copy of their supply chain policy.
Under the OECD Guidance, you are responsible for identifying red flags and carrying out a risk assessment on your suppliers. While RJC certification can assure you that your suppliers are successfully conducting their own due diligence, without the specific information you need to ask them for, you cannot adequately conduct your own.
However, if you are buying from a COP 2019 certified RJC members, the process of information gathering should be streamlined and more efficient because they know what you’re asking for, and why.
RJC has developed a due diligence toolkit to support members with implementing COP 7, which is available here on the RJC website, as well as a dedicated COP 7 training page.
Provenance claims are typically made about a product’s origin, verification of source, traceability of material, certification of material or suppliers, or another mechanism to ensure responsible sourcing practices that are not covered elsewhere in the COP.
The RJC has two main requirements for provenance claims:
- a truthful statement of commitment (what is promised); and
- an outline of the underpinning systems that substantiates it (how the promise is achieved).
To achieve conformance with the provision during the audit, you will need to meet requirements for both elements of your provenance claim: the promise and how the promise is achieved.
A provenance claim needs to be certified by the RJC via a “bolt-on” audit which can be conducted at any time during your RJC certification cycle. For further information and support please visit the dedicated COP 14 Provenance Claims training page.
Assurance
Please visit our Find an auditor page to see all the audit firms currently approved to conduct RJC audits.
Please see here a short document describing the 5 RJC audit steps (Step 1: Self-assessment, Step 2: Audit, Step 3: Report, Step 4: Certification decision, Step 5: Review and recertification).
A critical breach is any major non-conformance identified during audit against CoP critical provisions (6.1, 7.1, 16.1, 16.2, 17.1, 17.4, 18.1, 19.1, 19.2, 20.1, 22.1, 25.2, 26.2c, 28.1, 29.1, 33.1, 38.1, 38.2, 38.4, 39.2a, as per RJC Assessment Manual p. 34, Table 6) or any CoC provision where a deliberate falsification of information, systemic failure of management systems, or a total lack of controls of business risks has taken place. Please see here for a short document on the audit process, including what happens when a critical breach is identified during audit.
Any audit firm interested in conducting RJC audits must first apply with the RJC (Assurance@responsiblejewellery.com) for approval, and follow the procedure described in the RJC Auditor Accreditation Criteria 2019, including using the RJC Auditor Application Form.
Individual auditors who wish to become RJC approved auditors need to be associated with one of our approved audit firms, found here. This is to allow for the audit firm to apply on the auditor’s behalf as the auditor cannot apply independently. Following this application, if the initial criteria is met, the auditor will then be required to pass associated assessments to become an RJC approved auditor.
Certification
The time it takes to issue the certificate is dependent on the time it takes to complete each of the below stages.
After the audit is completed, the report is prepared by the audit firm and reviewed by RJC before a certificate is issued.
- Audit firm submits the audit report. Once your audit firm has completed the audit, they have 2 months to submit the report to the RJC. During this time, the audit firm sends the report to you for your review.
- Report is sent to RJC. Once the report is submitted to the RJC, the report is then added to a queue and reviewed accordingly.
- Report is reviewed by RJC. We review the report as part of our certification process. We may have queries for the audit firm. When queries are raised we email the Principal Contact to keep them informed of the status of their certification. If there are no queries raised, we will issue a certificate.
- Certificate issued. The Principal Contact will be sent an email notification when the certificate is issued.
Login to the member portal to download the certificate and logo.
This document includes screenshots and step-by-step instructions on where to find the files on the portal.
I have a login ID:
Use the link below the access the member portal. Use your login ID and password. You can reset your password from the login page.
https://portal.responsiblejewellery.com/
I don’t have a login ID and I am the Principal Contact:
All Principal Contacts have been emailed login details for the member portal. If you have not received your login details or if you have any queries, please contact membership@responsiblejewellery.com
I don’t have a login ID and I am not the Principal Contact.
Please get in touch with the Principal Contact in your organisation.
Book your audit at least 6 months prior to the expiry date.
To avoid any gaps in your certification, we recommend you book the audit at least 6 months prior to the expiry date of the certificate. Contact your audit firm who will discuss the renewal process with you.
A list of approved audit firms can be found on the RJC website here:
https://responsiblejewellery.com/auditors/find-an-rjc-auditor/
To update your RJC scope (add a new entity, change membership forum, address, company name etc.), please update your details in your Member Portal account or complete the below change request form, submit it to membership@responsiblejewellery.com and the RJC membership team will support you with the change in scope request.
If an audit has taken place with a new entity in scope, please note that no certificate can be issued until the change request form has been submitted and processed by the RJC membership team
- Download Change Request Form
- When adding a new entity to scope, please include the following documents:
- Certificates of Registration/Incorporation
- An updated organogram
- Details of all Directors and passports (must have a minimum of 6 months before expiry)
- Articles/Memoranda/Bylaws of Incorporation or Deeds of Partnership (whichever is applicable)
- Company Tax numbers
- If applicable:
- Details of individuals that own or control 20% or more of the shares in the new entity/facility and government-issued ID (must have a minimum of 6 months before expiry).
- Trade licences
You can find a member’s certificate number on the first page of an RJC certificate and on the RJC website. An RJC certificate is either valid for 3 years or, if the member has an open major non-conformance, it is valid for one year. You can find the start date and expiry date of a certificate on the first page of a certificate. Each RJC certificate has a unique certificate number. Members can download logos with their unique certificate number from their member portal account.
Membership and Applications
Are you an RJC member and has your company name changed?
Click here to download the change request form.
Please send an email to membership@responsiblejewellery.com, stating the old name and the new name. Confirm in writing that there are no other changes. Please attach the following two documents:
- The completed change request form
- Business registration document with the new company name. In the document, please highlight the company name using the yellow highlight tool.
Are you an RJC member and has your address changed?
Please send an email to membership@responsiblejewellery.com clearly stating the old address and the new address. Confirm in writing that there are no other changes. Please attach the following document:
- Business registration document with the new company address. In the document, please highlight the address using the yellow highlight tool.
Are you an RJC member and have directors changed?
Click here to download the change request form.
Please send an email to membership@responsiblejewellery.com describing the change. Let us know whether the RJC principal contact details have changed or not. Confirm in writing that there are no other changes. Please attach the following two documents:
- The completed change request form
- Passport of the director (expiry date no later than 6 months)
Are you an RJC member and have you opened a new location?
If yes, is the new site an entity or a facility?
Entity:
- A separate registered business with its own company registration documentation, unique company number.
Facility:
- Part of an existing legal entity.
- Retail stores are considered facilities.
Adding a new facility to scope:
- Inform your audit firm.
Adding a new entity to scope
Complete the below change request form, submit it to membership@responsiblejewellery.com and the RJC membership team will support you with the change in scope request.
If an audit has taken place with a new entity in scope, please note that no certificate can be issued until the change request form has been submitted and processed by the RJC membership team.
- Download Change Request Form
- When adding a new entity to scope, please include the following documents:
- Certificates of Registration/Incorporation
- An updated organogram
- Details of all Directors and passports (must have a minimum of 6 months before expiry)
- Articles/Memoranda/Bylaws of Incorporation or Deeds of Partnership (whichever is applicable)
- Company Tax numbers
- If applicable:
- Details of individuals that own or control 20% or more of the shares in the new entity/facility and government-issued ID (must have a minimum of 6 months before expiry).
- Trade licences
RJC membership is renewed annually. The renewal invoice is sent to members, after members confirm their ARS to accounts@responsiblejewellery.com.
ARS refers to Annual Relevant Sales. In other words, turnover for the previous financial year. Specifically, the turnover that applies to the RJC materials (diamonds, gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium, emeralds, rubies, sapphires).
You can find a table on our website here, listing the membership fee in relation to ARS.
Commercial membership fees exclude the cost of a third-party independent audit.
Download the Required Document Checklist by clicking here.
This checklist lists all necessary documents.
It also lists key information that must be included in the documents, and highlighted.
Tips to help speed up the processing of your application:
- In each document, highlight all company names, director’s names and company tax numbers, using a pdf yellow highlighter tool.
- Give each document a clear name, in English, such as “Business registration document – Company Name”.
- Use the checklist to double check all documents, before submitting your application to the RJC.
Guidance for groups
When uploading documents via the application portal, please follow our guidance:
- Please upload 1 zip folder per entity, containing all documents relating to that entity.
- The name of the zip folder must be the name of the legal entity.
Which group entities are in RJC scope?
All entities handling relevant materials (diamonds, gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium, emeralds, rubies, sapphires), in the jewellery supply chain, are in scope.
In addition to your organigram, please provide a list with a concise description of business activity of each entity.
For your reference, click here to download a generalised example of a bank reference letter. This is one of the required documents to be submitted as part of your application.
