WFDB, IDMA Reject Membership of New Council

In a news statement released jointly by the WFDB, IDMA and CIBJO, the organizations said they wanted to express their reservations about the planned structure and system of operation of the CRJP following CIBJO’s withdrawal from CRJP.

The organizations said they represented the overwhelming majority of companies and individuals involved in the diamond and jewelry industry and were committed to the well-being of our member organizations, and, consequently, the thousands of individual jewellers and diamantaires that make up their respective memberships.

They also stressed that they were committed to the principles of social and ethical responsibility and transparency in the jewelry industry and actively promote them. “We will continue to become involved in projects that we believe will defend these values and at the same time serve the interests of all the legitimate stakeholders in our industry,” the organizations said. “But we do not believe that CRJP, with its currently proposed structure and with its system of operation, will serve the interests of most of the industry.

“Regrettably, as a result of the council’s exclusionary activities to date, many members of the industry are concerned that commercial agendas, which run contrary to the interests of an overwhelming portion of the trade, have become entwined with the good intentions of CRJP. CRJP has taken a direction which aligns it exclusively with large corporate entities, with their sizeable infrastructures and budgets, without taking into consideration the needs of the medium and smaller independent firms that comprise the majority of participants in our industry.”

The three groups said that above all they were committed to defending and protecting the interests of their memberships and overseeing the preservation of “this vital segment of the industry”.

CIBJO announced at the end of last month that it would withdraw from CRJP immediately, and would suspend the activity of officials representing the CIBJO on CRJP’s committees. CIBJO said that CRJP’s proposed structure would benefit bigger firms at the expense of the smaller jewelers, represented by CIBJO.

Aimed at promoting responsible business practices in a transparent and accountable manner throughout the industry, CRJP was established in July as not-for-profit organization with 14 founding members from different parts of the supply chain, from mine to retail.