Only SJC can test 99.99% gold

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Raw gold and gold jewelry with lower purity will be tested by the companies listed in Decree 20/2006/ND-CP, says a dispatch that the General Department of Customs sent to local customs departments.

This move is aimed at preventing tax revenue losses since a number of local customs departments have relied on the testing results of unqualified units and charged taxes inaccurately, says the dispatch.

As no other company than SJC has certified machines for testing 99.99% gold and the function of a gold tester, there is no other way than making SJC the only agency in charge of testing 99.99% gold, said Dinh Nho Bang, vice chairman of the Vietnam Gold Traders Association, at a recent meeting with the General Department of Customs.

With other items, testing will be done at an independent center or a State-run center. Meanwhile, there is currently no center to test gold jewelry.

At present, no enterprise is exporting gold with 99.99% purity, given the gap of over VND1 million per tael between local and global prices. Only Phu Nhuan Jewelry Co. (PNJ) has been exporting gold jewelry with lower purity in the past two years, said Bang.

A senior source from PNJ said his company mainly exported jewelry with gold content of below 75%. Therefore, the company does not have to go through SJC testing.

As PNJ is not allowed to test its own products, the company hires Agribank Jewelry Co. to do the job.

The head of the jewelry department at a large gold trading company said testing had little meaning at present since there had been no case of gold deemed unqualified by the tester. He suggested the State set up an independent agency for jewelry testing, saying control over jewelry quality was not so strict now.

In addition, if there is only one tester, other companies have to accept whichever fee it imposes, which is unreasonable, he said.

Bang said members of the Vietnam Gold Traders Association had asked for permission for establishment of an independent jewelry testing company, but had not received a license yet.