Post subject: Italian law about gemological materials
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:50 pm
Site Admin
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 11:24 am Posts: 7523 Location: Rome, Italy
just a note to inform you that the law about regulation of the gemological materials has been approved by the Italian Chamber of Deputies few mins ago. It's the first example of an articulated law about gemmo stuffs i'm aware in the world. now it must be approved by the 2nd branch of the parliament (Senate) to be operative. ciao alberto
Post subject: Re: Italian law about gemological materials
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:22 pm
Gemology Online Veteran
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:18 am Posts: 595 Location: Madrid, Spain
Good news, i'd like to know more about it too! We also need something similar in Spain (no consumer protection in gem materials now and lots of fraud)...
The discipline of precious metals is getting accelerated, thanks to Mrs. Manuela Dal Lago, president of the Tenth Standing Committee of the Chamber, which has placed the two proposals on the agenda of the law "Mazzocchi" and "Mattesini" in terms of legislation on gemological materials, combining in a single text, the two measures, which incorporate almost all the observations of local associations and jewelry category. These proposals,indeed, seek to regulate the market for precious stones protecting consumers, empowering workers and combating unfair competition. According to Mr. Dal Lago, the proposals aim to bring in our legal rules to establish some sort of tracking the chain of gems, to ensure operators and especially consumers. Regarding the timing, the Mr. Dal Lake recalled that the Senate has been approved and is still in progress on a survey of the goldsmith's national industry, with particular reference to the regulation of securities and the identification marks of the precious metals.
I'm assuming this is what Alberto was talking about, it is all the information I could find. Seems like a good plan that should be taken up around the world.
Possibly this will become standard within EU if there is enough voices expressing the needs. Laws are tried to be harmonized within the EU as far as possible.
Post subject: Re: Italian law about gemological materials
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 5:24 am
Site Admin
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 11:24 am Posts: 7523 Location: Rome, Italy
As one of the category association’s technical advisors I was extensively involved in this project in last three years. The first project of law was released in 2004 and since then there were 4 more (essentially improvements of the original one). Before last summer the X Commission of the Chamber of Deputies merged 2 projects coming from opposite political areas in one single text which was approved yesterday by the Chamber. Now it must be submitted to the Senate and then, within 6 months an implementation rule book containing all the technical directives must be written and released. Essentially the law started as an effective tool for consumer protection AND for the regulation of the market. We already have here some directives about nomenclature and technical stuffs released by UNI (Italian Agency for the Unification), a national version of ISO (I’d say something comparable to the FTC reccomendations). But those where rules, not laws. The first 4 articles of the law are essentially all about names, terms and nomenclature, an UPDATED (yeah, glass filled are included, yay!) copy and paste of the UNI rules about gemmo materials (disclosure about treatments, list of treatments methods et al). The use of terms such “semiprecious” is now forbidden, as an example (art. 5). Article 6 is about pearls Articles 7-8 states that all main infos about the stone (according to the 1-4 articles terminology) must be included in every paper, label and other documentation. Article 9 states that an info campaign must be provided in order to give to the customers all the useful infos about the appropriate terminology. Article 10 states that every ring of the industry chain must provide (facultative, upon request) for a document containing all the main infos about the stone/s, treatment method included, if present, and it’s responsible about the congruity of the released infos. The document is mandatory in case of distance sale (TV sales, auctions, internet et als). Articles 11-12 speaks of controversy about incongruent declarations and how to face controversy about them. Art 13 is about gem labs. It states that they must be registered in apposite files belonging to every chamber of commerce. This will be mandatory in order to be able to release “certifications”. Art 14 is about sanctions. Whoever release gem certifications without being part of the above file can be charged from 3000 to 30.000 euro. Whoever sells gemmo materials without the appropriate documentation is charged from 600 to 6000 euro and the goods will be confiscated. Whoever refuse to release the document (art 10) is charged from 600 to 6000 euro. 2nd Comma of the same article states that the above sanctions will be MULTIPLIED PER 10 in case of distance sales, and outside the stores. Article 15 states that gemmo materials coming from other EU countries can be marketed in Italy only if the same level of consumer’s protection will be granted Article 16 states that an implementation rule book must be released within 6 months since the definitive approval of the law. Article 17 states the law will be officially operative after 60 days from it’s publication on the official gazette.
The text is not definitive yet and can be modified. If the Senate will release modifications, the text will be submitted again to the Chamber of Deputies. Now the hard work will be on setting up the technical rules, really not an easy task, wish me (an all the others involved) luck…..
Post subject: Re: Italian law about gemological materials
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 5:47 am
Gemology Online Veteran
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:18 am Posts: 595 Location: Madrid, Spain
Looks great, thanks a lot for the info, and congrats for your contribution to this project! Hope it will be approved by the Senate and will be the example to follow for other EU countries! Right now consumer protection here is just as "every man for himself". It can be also a great support for all gemology sector (labs, schools, equipment firms...)
just a note to inform you that the law about regulation of the gemological materials has been approved by the Italian Chamber of Deputies few mins ago. It's the first example of an articulated law about gemmo stuffs i'm aware in the world. now it must be approved by the 2nd branch of the parliament (Senate) to be operative. ciao alberto
just a note to inform you that the law about regulation of the gemological materials has been approved by the Italian Chamber of Deputies few mins ago. It's the first example of an articulated law about gemmo stuffs i'm aware in the world. now it must be approved by the 2nd branch of the parliament (Senate) to be operative. ciao alberto
This is an amazing achievement. I've worked on (much smaller scale) standards committees and it's tireless, painful drudge work to get all the parties to agreement. This must have taken years off your life, but it's a huge benefit to the industry.
Post subject: Re: Italian law about gemological materials
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:58 pm
Site Admin
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 11:24 am Posts: 7523 Location: Rome, Italy
thank you all for the support! there are all the premises for a success: a bi-partisan political agreeement on a single text, a convergence and agreement among all the category associations (i'd say rarer than an astral conjunction...LOL don't recall it happened before), kudos from consumers..... let's see. i'd believe it's all true only when i'll see the final approve in the meantime, keep thinking about the techincal rules... i'll keep you updated, finger crossed!! ciao albé
Post subject: Re: Italian law about gemological materials
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 7:41 am
Site Admin
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 11:24 am Posts: 7523 Location: Rome, Italy
Tim wrote:
Sounds like there will be more demand for gemologists in Italy soon...
For sure many "industry folks" will need to update their "knowledge"..LOL.... and this is a REAL cool thing......
Quote:
Albè... did I just read that every stone sold in Italy will have to have a piece of paper with it?
retailers must provide (upon customer's request) for a paper (not a gemmo paper) which will include sensitive infos about the product (you know, size, weight, species, variety, treatments and so on).
among pros - wholesaler Vs retailer, as an example - those infos will be mandatory.
Post subject: Re: Italian law about gemological materials
Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:35 pm
Site Admin
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 11:24 am Posts: 7523 Location: Rome, Italy
here's the law translated in english by the VIORO magazine team: Click here if you can not read the pdf. [pdfview]http://gemologyonline.com/regulations.pdf[/pdfview]
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