CIBJO Welcomes Canadian Jewelry Tax Cut Vote

Gaetano Cavalieri, the president of CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation, has welcomed the vote last week by the lower house of the Canadian parliament to phase out a 10 percent jewelry excise tax as part of the country's 2005 budget proposals.

The tax will be phased out over a five-year period with two percentage points being cut from the levy annually once the Senate gives its approval, which observers believe will be automatic and is expected as early as September.

“The Canadian legislature has effectively enabled it to compete freely on the world stage and I am certain that the industry will flourish now that it will be operating on an equal playing field,” Cavalieri said.

Cavalieri had pledged CIBJO’s support to the Canadian Jewellers Association at the annual trade fair Jewellery World Expo last year to help rid Canada of what was considered a counterproductive and unfair tax. He wrote a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, asking him to address the repeal of the tax in the 2005 budget.