As African Nations Limit Their Rough Gemstone Exports, Opportunities for Fair Trade Increase
Just last March, we posted about how Tanzania decided to ban the export of rough gemstones to maximize the local benefit related to the gemstone economy. This was bad news for gemstone cutters in India, where much of the rough from Africa is exported, but good news for the local economy in Tanzania. More polishing operations equate to greater jobs creation.
Now, we learn from an article in Mydigitalfc.com that Namibia and South Africa have followed Tanzania’s lead, capping exports and limited exports to registered buyers. The focus of the article is on a group of buyers from India who are collectively working together to creating a National purchasing institution to compete with China and Thailand. But there are other implications as well to this move toward localization.
Having just returned from Tucson, it was impossible to not to notice how much many gemstones had jumped in price. I had assumed that this was due to new demand in the Asian markets. This is certainly true with some gems, particularly those that are exceedingly rare. But there are other factors are more in play that could impact fair trade.
Geologist/Gemologist and Fair Jewelry Action member, William Rohtert writes: “National purchasing institutions like this one being set up in India will mark the next stage of growth in global colored gemstones. It is a natural response to African nations limiting their exports. This arrangement is a truly substantive structural change in the industry and one way the Fair Trade concepts can become widespread quickly.”
This view is confirmed from an hour conversation I had with Jean Claude Michelou in Tucson. Jean Claude is the executive VP of the International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) and the editor of the magazine In Color, which, by the way, has an excellent article on Fair Trade gem issues by Laurent Cartier.
Jean Claude explained how his way forward for Fair Trade gemstones is by working directly with governmental regulatory bodies that would certify gemstones coming from small scale miners. Jean Claude, if I understand correctly, argued that the capacity issues and instability related to small scale mining efforts make it difficult to create a steady supply chain that can be certified.
Other people believe that the way forward in Fair Trade Gems is not to engage governments but to work directly with the small communities. This model has already been successfully championed by Eric Braunwart, through Columbia Gems. It is also more along the lines of what the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) has accomplished with the introduction of fair trade gold.
There’s little doubt in my mind that there will be different approaches to the complex challenge of fair trade gems. Part of one’s approach to these issues may have something to do with whether you are focusing on supplying large scale manufactures or the smaller designer/independent jeweler. The trend for nations to take more control of sourcing and polishing can only help move things along further.
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Please Note:
FJA is a forum open to a diversity of opinions in support of its mission. Any editorial expressed in this article represents the opinion of the author, and not necessarily the views of Fair Jewelry Action members.
