FAQs

The RJC is unable to review your self-assessment document, members are best placed to complete and objectively review their own self-assessment due to their knowledge of their own operations, procedures, policies, knowledge of local applicable law, etc.

In addition, the COP Guidance document is a great resource for helping members to implement the COP provisions and requirements. The guidance also includes a variety of templates and checklists. We also have a toolkit page that includes all our toolkits to support you in implementing the COP, also containing a variety of tools, checklists and templates.

If you do have any specific questions around certain provisions or non-conformances, please reach out to training@responsiblejewellery.com and indicate the key areas you need support on and we can suggest some steps, provide some resources and guidance to support you.

• Download Code of Practices Guidance (PDF)
• Visit tools and resources

Sourcing exclusively from 2019 COP certified suppliers is not enough to show compliance with COP, even if they provide their certificate, as their certificate does not include any information regarding the origin of the materials or products you are purchasing from them or provide you a copy of their supply chain policy.

Under the OECD Guidance, you are responsible for identifying red flags and carrying out a risk assessment on your suppliers. While RJC certification can assure you that your suppliers are successfully conducting their own due diligence, without the specific information you need to ask them for, you cannot adequately conduct your own.

However, if you are buying from a COP 2019 certified RJC members, the process of information gathering should be streamlined and more efficient because they know what you’re asking for, and why.

RJC has developed a due diligence toolkit to support members with implementing COP 7, which is available here on the RJC website, as well as a dedicated COP 7 training page.

• Download Due Diligence Toolkit (PDF)
• Visit COP 7 Due Diligence training page

Provenance claims are typically made about a product’s origin, verification of source, traceability of material, certification of material or suppliers, or another mechanism to ensure responsible sourcing practices that are not covered elsewhere in the COP.

The RJC has two main requirements for provenance claims:

• a truthful statement of commitment (what is promised); and
• an outline of the underpinning systems that substantiates it (how the promise is achieved).

To achieve conformance with the provision during the audit, you will need to meet requirements for both elements of your provenance claim: the promise and how the promise is achieved.

A provenance claim needs to be certified by the RJC via a “bolt-on” audit which can be conducted at any time during your RJC certification cycle. For further information and support please visit the dedicated COP 14 Provenance Claims training page.

• Visit COP 14 Provenance Claims training page