Responsible Jewellery Council — Code of Practices and Chain of Custody
Responsible Jewellery Council — Code of Practices and Chain of Custody
The London-based industry standards body certifying ethical practice from mine to retail
The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) is the London-based not-for-profit industry organisation that administers a pair of certification standards covering ethical, social, environmental, and human-rights practices across the jewellery supply chain. The Code of Practices, the broader of the two standards, applies to companies operating at any stage from mining to retail; the Chain of Custody standard provides a more rigorous traceability framework specifically for gold, platinum group metals, and diamonds. Together they constitute the most widely adopted voluntary framework for responsible sourcing in the global jewellery trade.
Origins and governance
The RJC was founded in 2005 by a group of fourteen industry-leading companies in response to a series of high-profile concerns about conflict diamonds, mining-related human-rights violations, and supply-chain opacity. The founding members included Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, the Diamond Trading Company, and Signet Jewelers; the organisation has since grown to more than 1,800 member companies across all stages of the supply chain.
The RJC is governed by a Board of Directors drawn from member companies and is structured as a non-profit company under English law. Its Standards Committee maintains and revises the certification standards, and a network of accredited third-party auditors performs the on-site audits required for certification. The RJC headquarters is in London, with regional offices and representatives in the principal jewellery centres including New York, Mumbai, Hong Kong, and Antwerp.
The Code of Practices standard
The Code of Practices is the broader of the two RJC standards and the entry point for most members. It comprises a set of provisions across three principal pillars: human and labour rights (covering forced labour, child labour, freedom of association, working hours, wages, and health and safety); environmental responsibility (covering management systems, waste, hazardous substances, biodiversity, energy, and climate); and product disclosure (covering treatment disclosure, synthetic and laboratory-grown diamond identification, and country-of-origin where relevant). The current version of the standard, adopted in 2019 and updated incrementally since, draws on international frameworks including the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the ILO core conventions.
Certification under the Code of Practices is valid for three years and requires a successful third-party audit by one of the RJC-accredited assurance firms. The audit examines management systems, documentation, and operational practice across the relevant standard provisions; non-conformities must be remediated before certification is awarded or renewed.
The Chain of Custody standard
The Chain of Custody (CoC) standard is the more rigorous of the two RJC frameworks and applies specifically to gold, silver, and platinum group metals (the standard for diamonds is administered jointly with allied frameworks). CoC-certified material is segregated from non-certified material throughout its journey from mine through refining, manufacturing, and final sale, and the certified company maintains documentary records of every transfer. The CoC standard provides a credible answer to client and regulatory demand for traceability and supports the marketing of products made from documented responsibly sourced material.
Adoption of the CoC standard has been slower than adoption of the Code of Practices, principally because the segregation requirements impose real operational costs and because the supply of CoC-certified raw material is limited at the mine end. Major refineries and certain leading retailers have committed to CoC certification, and the supply of CoC-certified material has grown steadily in the years since the standard was first adopted in 2012.
Auditor accreditation and audit conduct
RJC audits are performed by a network of independent assurance firms accredited by the RJC. The auditors, working under guidelines published by the RJC, examine the company's management systems, sample its operational documentation, and conduct site visits and interviews to assess compliance with the relevant standard. Audit reports are submitted to the RJC, which makes the certification decision. Audits are not public; certification status is published in the RJC member directory but the underlying audit reports remain confidential between the auditor, the company, and the RJC.
Critique and limitations
The RJC framework has attracted both broad industry adoption and substantive critique. Civil-society organisations, including Human Rights Watch and IMPACT, have criticised the RJC for what they describe as insufficient depth in the audit process, opacity in the audit reports, and weak treatment of certain issues including artisanal and small-scale mining. The RJC has responded by progressively strengthening the standard and audit requirements; the 2019 standard revision incorporated significantly more extensive due-diligence provisions in response to OECD guidance.
Independent observers note that RJC certification, like any voluntary industry framework, depends on the rigour of the audit process and the willingness of the certified company to maintain compliant practice between audits. Certification should be understood as evidence of a company's commitment and its baseline compliance, not as a guarantee of continuous responsible practice across every operational decision.
In the trade
For mid-market and luxury retailers, RJC certification has become an effective table stakes credential — a signal to clients and to corporate procurement counterparts that the company has accepted the discipline of independent audit and has documented its compliance with the published standard. Brand boutiques operated by Cartier, Bulgari, Tiffany, and other major luxury maisons routinely cite RJC certification in marketing materials, and the certification appears alongside Kimberley Process compliance and origin documentation as part of the standard sourcing assurance package presented to high-end clients.
For independent jewellers and smaller dealers, RJC certification is more variable. The cost of audit and the operational discipline of compliance are real, and many smaller operations rely on certified suppliers higher up the chain rather than seeking direct certification. Buyers concerned with responsible sourcing can look for evidence of supplier-level RJC certification on the goods being offered and can ask retailers to document their sourcing practices.