Bangalore: With a view to familiarising jewellers with hallmarking of gold to ensure purity and to disseminate information among customers about the need to ask for hallmarked jewellery, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has launched a campaign that focuses on standardisation of gold products and protection of the customer from being duped.

Speaking to presspersons here on Saturday, Y.P. Singh, Additional Director-General, BIS, said that since India used around 800 tonnes of gold annually, hallmarking was mainly needed to protect the interests of the customer and to ensure the quality of gold. Hallmarking also supported exports and would help India to develop as a reliable market of gold.

To meet this end, an awareness programme was being organised on Sunday in collaboration with the Jewellers' Association of Bangalore.

"According to a survey conducted by BIS, there are more than three lakh retailers and manufacturers and over 100 large-scale manufacturing units in the country. It was found that 88 per cent of the samples failed to meet the standards while there was an average shortage of purity of 11 per cent," he said.

He pointed out that till now, BIS had hallmarked 1.4 crore pieces of gold ornaments and 2,095 licences were given.

As many as 39 assaying and hallmarking centres had been recognised, of which one was in Bangalore.

Mr. Singh said that India would shortly join the Vienna Convention, which is the International Convention on Control and Marking of Precious Metals.

Exports

This would boost exports of gold from India to other countries without having to do further testing.

The Indian delegation had already attended a few meetings of the Convention and steps were being taken to meet the requirements for joining it, he said.

He said that the Central Government had decided to make gold hallmarking mandatory from January 1, 2008.

The BIS hallmarking scheme involves certification of jeweller through grant of licence and recognition of assaying and hallmarking centres as per the prescribed criteria which was on a par with international standards.

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