Gold jewellery standards now compulsory

Last Updated on Wednesday, 9 July 2014, 21:29 by GxMedia

Guyanese and foreigners must now be given paperwork stating the karat and alloys used in gold jewellery and ornaments purchased here, a government official said Wednesday.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon said government has decided to make the Gold Standards compulsory rather than voluntarily since they were introduced four years ago.

“They are now compulsorily enforceable and being applied by the investigators of the Bureau of Standards,” he said.

Luncheon said the decision to do so was made after a presentation to Cabinet by Minister of Tourism, Irfaan Ali. The Head of the Presidential Secretariat explained that enforcing the now compulsory standards was  aimed mainly at assuring tourists that they were buying authentic gold jewellery. “Tourists come here. They like our yellow gold. We see this as a major branding of Guyana’s tourism product and it is important for us to eliminate whatever possibilities that things go awry, that indeed visitors, tourists  might not necessarily achieve or obtain what they paid for,” said Luncheon.