In support of the Philippine jewelry industry’s move to become compliant with the standards prescribed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), thru its Metallurgical Technology Division, provides the technical know-how on the analysis and identification of precious metals, alloying elements related to jewelry production, and the safe and environmentally sound extraction of these precious metals for the industry’s utilization.

The MGB is an active member of the multi-partite Technical Committee on Jewelry (BPS/TC 54) created by the Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) with the prime objective of standardizing the Philippine jewelry industry in compliance with the ISO.  Its task is to evaluate several Philippine National Standards (PNS) related to the jewelry industry following the ISO standards.

The BPS/TC 54 is composed of representatives from the local jewelry industry association thru the Meycauayan Jewellers Industry Association; government agencies like the BOI, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Industrial Technology Development Institute, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas; consumer organizations thru the National Association of Consumers, Inc.; technical/vocational institution thru the Meycauayan Jewelry-Making Training Center; and testing laboratories like the  MGB and Metals Industry Research and Development Center.

According to the BPS, the PNS are documents established for a specific item by consensus of technical committees whose membership is carefully chosen by DTI-BPS from its stakeholders. It provide the rules, guidelines or characteristics of a product or service and makes the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services more efficient, safer and cleaner.

At present, 16 of the 22 existing jewelry-related PNS are already in conformity with the different ISO classifications in which they are categorized. These categories include numbering system, jewelry sizes, colors of precious metals, and types of alloying elements and coatings, which are adapted in order to correlate local terminologies with international industry nomenclature.

Meanwhile, the draft PNS for diamonds is in its final review by the BPS/TC 54 members and is expected to be finished by year end.

By: Metallurgical Technology Division