Around EGP 24.7m in revenues were generated in the authority for jewellery stamping and scales, which is currently part of the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade, the ministry said Tuesday. The stated profits were collected during the 10-month period between the beginning of 2014 until the end of October. The statement further mentioned that the department witnessed a 120% increase in growth rate, compared to the same period in the previous three years, during which the average revenue amounted to approximately EGP 11.6m. The Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafy announced that the issuance of a presidential decree to transfer the jewellery stamping and scales authority to a public economic entity is currently in the works. The decision aims at introducing new regulatory tools to avoid any means of forgery and cheating in the goldsmith and precious metals industry. One of the tools includes the use of a barcode system for goldsmiths and other precious metals. Commenting on the decision, the president of the authority Mohamed Fathy said that the transfer will allow more flexibility in making decisions and in modifying the regulations to be followed by the authority. The transfer will allow more benefits as it will allow new opportunities that are restricted when the authority is connected to a governmental institution, as it will abide by a different and more flexible law, he said. Further, the statement said that 34kg of gold and 52kg of silver of fake and unstamped jewellery were seized in the past 10 months. As for the average quantities of fake and unstamped jewellery found in the same period in the previous three years, gold registered 20kg, while silver registered 33kg. An increase in the number of reports filed for violations in the gold industry in the past 10 months has been witnessed, compared to the same period in the previous three years; whereby 320 reports were filed in the gold industry compared to 158 reports. Fathy said that due to the increase in inspection campaigns adopted by the department more violations were successfully caught. Hanafy further mentioned in the statement that around 5,000 reports were filed in the past 10 months for violation of standards and weight scales. The minister pointed out that studies to apply amendments to the provisions of laws related to precious metals and scales are currently underway. The amendments include tightening sanctions against violations in the trade of fake jewellery. Hanafy stressed that the amendments will allow the development of the gold jewellery market, thus increasing its chance in competing in the global market and attracting plenty of investment opportunities in this area.
