BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS (BIS) HAS PROHIBITED SALE OF GOLD JEWELRY FROM APRIL –1, WITHOUT A SIX-DIGIT ALPHANUMERIC HALLMARK UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (HUID).
Sale of gold jewelry and gold artefacts hallmarked without six-digit alphanumeric HUID — unique identification number — shall not be permitted from April 1, the government on Friday said.
Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday chaired a meeting to review the activities of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
To promote quality culture in micro scale units, it has been decided that the BIS will provide 80 per cent concession on the certification/minimum marking fee across various product certification schemes.
Hallmarking – a quality certification – has been made mandatory with effect from July 1, 2022 for gold jewelry (14, 18, and 22 carat) and artifacts in 288 districts of the country.
To protect consumers and enhance their confidence in hallmarked gold jewelry, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has prohibited from April 1 their sale and also that of gold artefacts without a six-digit alphanumeric Hallmark Unique Identification Number (HUID).
The government is planning to make hallmarking of gold bullion mandatory, Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) Director General Pramod Kumar Tiwari said on Monday. According to the BIS chief, the government is ready with the draft guidelines for this. The development comes after hallmarking gold jewelry was made mandatory earlier last year.
Hallmarking was started by the BIS in the year 2000. However, mandatory hall- marking was implemented in 288 districts of the country with effect from June 23, 2021, through the Hallmarking of Gold Jewelry and Gold Artefacts Order, 2022. The second phase of mandatory hallmarking came into force on June 1, 2022, in 32 districts.
With the introduction of the HUID, the hallmark has three identifiers: the BIS logo, the purity of the article, and the six-digit alphanumeric HUID. The authority gave jewelers more than a year to clear their stocks of four-digit hallmarked articles. However, the simultaneous sale of two types of hall- marked jewelry was creating confusion among consumers.
“The demand from stakeholders has been that quality of gold jewelry can be ensured only if the bullion is hallmarked. We have prepared the draft guidelines. So, we have started the consultation process,” Tiwari was quoted as saying by PTI.
Gold bullion is used as a raw material for manufacturing of jewelry and its purity is paramount, considering the large volume of jewelry, he said. Tiwari said BIS has also set up an advisory group with representations from jewelry, importers, refiners and assaying canters, among others.
“The advisory group will go through the draft guidelines and suggest if any are changes to be made. Thereafter, public comments will be sought on the same,” he said.
Hallmarked gold bullion will help in ensuring the desired purity of gold jewellery being manufactured in the country, he added. As per BIS data, more than 18 crore pieces of gold articles have been hallmarked since implementation of the mandatory hallmarking from July 2022.
Tiwari said about 92.08 per cent of samples have been cleared by BIS referral assaying labs so far in the current fiscal. India is the world’s largest consumer and importer of gold. The country imports about 700-800 tons of gold annually.
According to the BIS Rules, 2018, in case hall- marked jewelry is found to be less pure than marked-on jewelry, the buyer shall be entitled to compensation, which shall be two times the difference in purity shortage and the testing charges.
According to the BIS, more than 180 million gold articles have been hall- marked since the implementation of mandatory hall- marking. Articles numbering 103 million were hallmarked in 2022-23. More than 300,000 gold articles are hallmarked with the HUID every day.
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