The Gems and Jewellery Federation, the national body for the jewellery industry, is opposing the Hallmarking Act to be implemented in metros from January 1, 2008.

The federation has hinted at surrendering hallmarking licences and shut down trade if the government does not take the industry into confidence before implementing the act.

The federation is protesting against the licensing procedure in the proposed Hallmarking Act and the infrastructure for the practical implementation of the act is inadequate.

Ashok Minawala, chairman, Gems and Jewellery Federation said, "The industry supports hallmarking of gold but it should be implemented by understanding the ground realities."

The Bureau of Indian Standards, the apex body involved in developing technical standards and product certification, had introduced a gold hallmarking scheme in 2000 on a voluntary basis.

The government intends to make gold hallmarking compulsory from January 2008. Minawala said,"The proposed ammended act requires every outlet to obtain a licence to sell hallmarked jewellery. This is similar to the erstwhile Gold Control Act that severely regulated trade for nearly two decades."

Currently, about 7,000 jewellery retailers of the total three lakh-odd stores have obtained licences for hallmarking. "The industry is willing to surrender the existing 7,000 BIS licenses and, if required, will halt trade across the country if the act is implemented without formulating a clear road map."

Inadequate gold hallmarking centres could be the major bone of contention while implementing the act. For instance, Mumbai alone has around 12,026 jewellery stores, while only seven centres have been opened so far.

"The four metros need at least 500 centres as against the 25 odd centres that are currently operational. The jewellers will need to hallmark goods on a daily basis. The country requires about 3,000 centres as jewellery stores are spread in deep rural pockets," Minawala said.

The federation feels the provisions of prosecution and suspension of license will encourage inspector raj in the trade.

It also expects BIS to consider exemption for jewellery with low weight due to practical constraints.