All participants of the market interest what about working under new rules of the transacting of jewelry in connection with the entrance of Russia into the Custom Union. And how conditions of their work will change in this connection. Today Sergey Nikolaevich Dyachenko, the Deputy Head of the Moscow State Gemological Certification Center of the Russian Assay Chamber tells us about the decisions and processes occurring in this direction.
Sergey Nikolaevich, recently you served on a working panel in Kazakhstan which is responsible for working out of the agreement on the features of completion of operations with precious metals and precious stones on the customs territory of the Custom union. What arrangements have already been reached?
Now the combination of the parties positions at the expert level is actually completed. I will explain more in detail. Each profile department of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus has a group of experts who in common develop a single document. If this document is signed, it means that the parties have reached certain compromises, in other words have arrived at a consensus at the expert level. It is a very important stage during which facts of the agreement is provided, specific particular positions up to the nuances. Then that experts have developed, heads of corresponding departments confirm, and the document is passed on for signing directly to the Custom union. Thus, today the next important step for signing «Agreements on the features of completion of operations with precious metals and precious stones on the customs territory of the Custom union» is taken.
Why is this agreement so important?
The matter is that precious metals and stones represent a separate, rather specific segment of the market. And there are features of regulation of this sector more or less in each national legislation – in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan. With their help each state protects certain interests at regulation of the market of precious metals and stones. First, it connects with necessity of creation of gold and foreign currency reserves; secondly, with the prevention of illicit traffic of these metals and stones; thirdly, with the certification system (a marking-off and probing) which confirms the gold content in the metal, etc. And, fourthly, it connects with the anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing legislation. All these facts are considered at formulation of the rules of the transacting of precious metals and stones on the territory of the Custom union.
What specific arrangements have already been reached? What can the participants of the jewelry market wait for?
The prior arrangement that manufacture of precious metals and processing of stones will be carried out according to the country legislation on which territory there are manufacture and processing is reached. That is to say that the Custom union does not have any unified rules on that score: manufacture and processing questions will be regulated by the internal legislation of the countries-participants. So in this sense nothing will changes for the manufacturers of jewelry, who work on territory of Russia and sell the products here. But if they bring the goods to Kazakhstan they will trade according to the legislation of this state. There will not be any certain unified rules of jewelry sale too– this process will be regulated by the internal legislation of the countries-participants. And in general manufacture of precious metals, processing of precious stones and their transacting on territory of the Custom union will be carried out without restrictions, prohibitions and customs.
Let's pass to the most interesting question – the presence of hallmarks on products…
As to a marking-off and probing of products from precious metals experts have arrived at the following consensus: the goods which are being made on the territory of the certain state should correspond to standards, set by its legislation, should have a stamp proof of the manufacturer, and also to be marked by the hallmark of this state. What does it mean? It means that each manufacturer of jewelry has possibility to export goods without any restrictions to the territory of the neighbour state, but these products should have a mark of the manufacturer and the state mark of the country where they have been made. Marks of each country – participants of the Custom union will be recognized by other parties. If, for example, there is a Russian marking this jewel can be sold freely in Belarus and Kazakhstan. This rule which I have already spoken is actually approved by all experts. It will help to prevent import of poor-quality and counterfeit production to the neighbour states.
As I understand, the mark of assay supervision authority (State Inspectorate of Assay Supervision) will be a guarantee of quality of the Russian jewelry. But who will guarantee the quality of jewelry from Kazakhstan? There is no obligatory marking-off of jewelry production there...
Yes, the internal questions regulation of jewelry probing and a marking-off differs from Russian and Belorussian in Kazakhstan very much. There have cancelled an obligatory marking-off and have passed to the voluntary. Nevertheless there is an analog of our Assay Chamber in Kazakhstan – the Kazakhstan Assay Chamber which founder is the joint-stock company «National center of examination and certification». Difference is only that it is a non-state authority. By the way, in spite of the fact that the marking-off in this country is voluntary, jewelry is marked rather actively there; shops carry out it voluntarily and in enough great volumes. This is because consumers are suspicious of products on which there is no mark. It is necessary to notice also that absence state control over a marking-off in the in Kazakhstan handicaps the sellers of Russian jewelry production. It is a lot of fakes. It is thus copied not only the design of products – is faked the Russian mark and even labels of the Russian manufacturers. Naturally, such fakes cost cheaper than their analogs because the gold content does not correspond to the declared. However our Kazakhstan colleagues will have effective remedies of struggle against similar illegal practice after the coming of the agreement into effect.
As to the Kazakhstan jewelry the Kazakhstan Assay Chamber mark will be recognized in our country, and it will be obligatory. It also will be a guarantee of quality of the products brought from this country. It will be possible to sell only the goods with such mark on territory of Russia, all the rest will be considered as law infringement. And if, for example, the Kazakhstan wholesaler imports jewelry from any other country, and then will want to sell them in Russia, before it he will be obliged to mark them in the Kazakhstan Assay Chamber. Better to say, it will be impossible to sell a product in the Russian jewelry store without the given mark under that pretext that it is brought from Kazakhstan, and there the marking-off is voluntary. It will mean that the seller has infringed not only the Russian laws, but also the legislation of the Custom union.
Does it mean that the rights of consumers are not being infringed?
Certainly, the protection of the consumer right makes an emphasis in new conditions. In this connection the Assay Chamber prepares the framework agreement with the Russian consumer rights protection society about cooperation and about teamwork possibility in the given direction. First it is the informing of buyers about standards which should be observed, about trade rules, about innovations in the legislation So, for example, the buyers who have faced shop refusal to exchange the gained piece of jewelry because of the inadequate quality often address to the Russian consumer rights protection society, but as the matter of fact nobody abrogated the article 21 of the Law «On protection of the consumer rights» in reference to such goods. We consider that there should be more public control in the system of jewelry trade. And the Assay Chamber is always ready to give the expert possibilities for carrying out, for example, examination of an item of jewelry, detecting of the real content of gold in this or that jewel, conformity of a mark. And then the consumer will decide what to do and whether to go to the court in the event that any infringements are detected. Certainly, we will not sit on our hands too. It seems to me, that such system will work rather effectively. It will guarantee that the item of jewelry which the consumer bought in the shop conforms to the Russian standards and laws.