Gold dealers cry out against draft regulation

Several provisions in a draft decree on gold trading management are uncalled for and do not take their social impacts into account, HCM City Association of Fine Arts, Gold Jewelry and Gemstones said last Friday.

At a meeting organised by the association for collecting opinions on a draft decree prepared by the State Bank of Viet Nam, participants said it reached out too far and covered businesses unrelated to its objectives.

The draft decree on the management of gold trading activities aims to exert tighter control of gold imports and trading of the precious metal in the domestic market.

The draft decree requires gold traders and jewelry makers to obtain at least five certificates or licences – a business registration certificate, a jewelry processing certificate, a gold jewelry trading certificate, a gold ingot import licence, and a gold jewelry export licence.

Under the draft decree, businesses have to apply to the central bank and the bank will verify if their location and facilities merit the granting of all the required licences.

Association members noted that gold jewelry making does not have any negative impact on the nation’s monetary policy. Applying the decree on gold management to jewelry businesses is therefore not reasonable.

The association has sent a document to the Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam asking that jewelry making is excluded from the decree’s provisions.

This will make it convenient for goldsmith households to sustain their vocation, the association said. It noted that thousands of households in HCM City were not involved in trading, but engaged in making gold jewelry for enterprises.

The households run small-scale enterprises of 5-10 labourers each that use rudimentary machines, and cannot meet requirements set by the State Bank.

Therefore, enterprises engaged exclusively in making gold jewelry should be required to obtain a business registration certificate from the city or provincial Department of Planning and Investment, but no other certification, the association said.

It also pointed out that the draft decree has not estimated the social impact of curbing the jewelry-making vocation, which is currently facing many difficulties.

If the registration procedures are too complicated, many households will stop or shift to other vocations, and the goldsmiths would lose their jobs. Jewelry making has helped add value, meet local and export demand, create thousands of jobs, and contribute to economic stability, the association said.

The draft decree also requires businesses that export jewelry with gold content of more than 83.3 per cent to apply for a license from the central bank. This regulation will cause difficulties for exporters, the association said.

Under international rules and conventions, businesses use 22K, 18K or 14K gold to make jewelry, it said, suggesting that the regulation be applied to businesses that export jewelry with 24k gold. — VNS

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