The All Kerala Gold and Silver Merchants’ Association has urged the Centre to reconsider its decision to make hallmarking and HUID certification mandatory for purifying old ornaments to make 24-carat gold bars, and provide small and medium refineries licences for gold purification.

The association said only 50 refineries in the country have received licences to purify old ornaments for gold bars. Currently, only one or two large refineries carry out the work and the entire jewellery sector depends on them.

S Abdul Nazar, treasurer of the association, said 80 per cent of the jewellers in Kerala have less than 5 kg stock. These small and medium jewellers could not depend on big refineries to meet their daily needs. Moreover, there could be a delay of nearly a week in receiving the gold sent for purification.

Exempt in-house refining

The association has requested the government to provide licences to all small and medium refineries for gold purification. Hallmarking of gold was made mandatory in India three years ago. But before it is enforced across the entire country, it is not practical to force jewellers to implement it for the hallmarking of old gold for conversion into bars.

Recycled/ old gold, which is refined in-house by retailers, may be exempted from hallmarking as it is for self-consumption by the retailers, who use it for making jewellery. Gold bullion recycled in-house by jewellery manufacturers is consumed for jewellery making.

The association demanded that HUDI certification should be implemented only for gold bars weighing more than one kg . All the associations in the sector have convened a meeting in New Delhi to chalk out the future course of action, Nazar said.

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