T he Guyana N ational Bureau of Standards (GNBS) is hereby informing Manufacturers of Gold Jewellery and Consumers generally that the National Gold Standard “Specifications for Gold Articles – GYS 50: 2010 was recently made mandatory . As a result, in the latter half of this year , the GNBS will commence the monitoring of gold jewellery manufactured and offered for sale in Guyana by enforcing the requirements of this National S tandard. The Bureau, under its Standards Compliance Programme, will begin to monitor the operations of manufacturers including goldsmiths to ensure that gold articles are labelled in conformity with the requirements set out in the national standard. The standard , which is also a CARICOM Standard, highlights a range of requirements which are important for the streamlining and monitoring of the gold sector in Guyana. It highlights the designation of pure gold content in part per 1000 or karat ranging from 9 karat to 23 karat and addresses key manufacturing aspects such as the content of the initial raw material, alloying, soldering, settings and the manufacturing environment. In addition, it stipulates criteria for sampling, assaying, tolerances and marking of the product.
The standard addresses the determination of gold articles using the modified fire assay method of testing and the formulae to produce all oyed gold of a specified purity. G uidelines for best practice of melting and casting are also included in the standard. The m onitoring and enforcement of the standard will include the annual registration of manufacturers with the G NBS , routine inspections at sale outlets to ensure conformance to labelling requirements, and the sampling and testing of gold articles offered for sale to address under – karating . The GNBS will utilize the services of its Gold Testing Laboratory to carry out test s which will ensure that the karat declared on jewellery by manufacturers is accurate. M anufacturers of gold jewelle ry will be notified of the effective date for the commencement of enforcement activities by the GNBS. Meanwhile, manufacturers can begin to work towards compliance by obtaining copies of the standard to ver ify requirements for compliance .
