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| Sunday, 13 January 2002 |
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No int'l certification yet for Lankan gems by Elmo Leonard Richard Greenwood, President of the American Gem Traders' Association (AGTA) was impressed with Sri Lanka coloured gemstones, when he was in Sri Lanka last September. At the 11th FACETS gem and jewellery show held in Colombo, Greenwood, as chief guest, was zealous about setting up a Sri Lanka Gemmological Testing Centre affiliated to the AGTA. The United States is by far the largest market for gemstones and jewellery in the world. Every year, hundreds of American buyers venture to Colombo to purchase Sri Lanka's precious stones displayed at the FACETS show. The Americans (and other global buyers) who visit the FACETS show also establish trade orders, joint ventures, and other links where technology is transferred to the local trade, benefiting the rural economy. Greenwood said at the FACETS show: "My association has expended much effort and expense in working with the Sri Lanka Gem Traders' Association (SLGTA) in an attempt to conclude an agreement establishing a world class gemmological laboratory here in Sri Lanka. We wish that the (proposed) Sri Lanka gemmological centre would share the same reputation and level of expertise and accountability as our lab in New York." But the American benefactor went home with no desires fulfilled. And Sri Lanka's economy is the loser. The gem and jewellery sector is said to be the most potent economic area of the island. Notwithstanding global recession, Sri Lanka's gem exports reached Rs. 4.9 billion, up to end-October last year, and jewellery exports, Rs 3.3 billion, according to the Gem Authority. In 2000, Sri Lanka's gem exports stood at Rs 5.7 billion. In 1990, the island's jewellery earned Rs 5.9 billion in foreign exchange. The SLGTA has written perhaps the best success story in Sri Lanka, over 11 years. Sri Lanka lost the initiative of thousands of years as the world's most valuable producer of coloured gemstones in the 1990s. It was the time when unscrupulous Thai dealers purchased local geudas at very low prices, and heat treated the geudas into high-value coloured gemstones. Bangkok then became the centre of the global gem trade. At that time, SLGTA held its first FACETS show. Now, Sri Lanka has reclaimed its reputation as the centre of world gem production. In 1998, the SLGTA requested the Gemmologists Association of Sri Lanka for equipment to set up a gem testing laboratory of international standards. In August 2000, the then Chief Minister of the Sabaragamuwa Province is known to have taken this matter to President Chandrika Kumaratunge, according to the SLGTA membership. The President had then allocated Rs 200 million for setting up this centre. For certifications of gemstones issued by a laboratory to be internationally recognised, it needs the accreditation of a globally reputed laboratory, SLGTA Chairman Rainier Nanayakkara said. The National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA) and all bodies connected with the Sri Lanka gem and jewellery sector including the SLGTA held negotiations with the American Gem Traders Association. A draft for the agreement was drawn by NGJA and the entire Sri Lankan gem trade. The American Association was to provide technical and management expertise, technology and training for the Sri Lankan staff, at home and also in New York. And the certificates would carry the (American) AGTA logo. The Americans requested that US$ 70,000 be paid upfront to use the AGTA logo. To raise this money, from January 1, 2001, the National Gem and Jewellery Authority began collecting a levy of one fourth of one percent on all gems and jewellery exported from Sri Lanka. This money went into a separate fund which now amounts to Rs 13 million. Earlier, the gem and jewellery industry came directory under the Finance Ministry. A year ago, President Kumaratunge appointed a separate Minister (Athauda Seneviratne) to be in charge of the gem sector. Minister Seneviratne had disagreed that an affiliation with AGTA should go ahead, the SLGTA membership said. The former minister's contention was that when government funds are allocated, the question of which international organisation was best suited for affiliation with the SLGTA should be looked into. The Thai gem trade had approached the AGTA for technical assistance to open a gemmological testing centre in Bangkok on the same lines. However, the Americans had backed out, due to the AGTA's good relations with the local gem and jewellery trade, FACETS organiser Ajward Deen said. The levy on exports of gems and jewellery continues. Sri Lanka's precious gemstones continue to be traded sans international certification. |
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