«Sole 24Ore» also covers VicenzaOro Spring, with an eye to the economic aspect of the sector, represented in the event in which around 1,400 exhibiting companies from the main Italian gold districts and 32 countries are expected. A sector which, according to the Confindustria newspaper, presents some positive data, at least in terms of exports. In truth, in 2012 Italian demand for gold jewelery decreased by 15% to 23.5 tonnes (the lowest value in the last ten years). But, according to Augusto Ungarelli, president of the Goldsmiths’ Club, the sector is still “competitive”, with “9 thousand companies with 30 thousand employees and 6 billion in turnover, of which 5.6 billion are exports”. Barbara Ganz’s article also focuses on another problem, which is deeply felt by goldsmith companies: the new European directive on nickel has been in force since April which, «although acceptable in content, involves inevitable increases in complexity in terms of costs and bureaucracy . It is not acceptable that our competitors are exempt from this.” «There is a substantial unreliability from a scientific point of view», notes Stefano De Pascale, director of Federorafi, in the article «and sanctions are at stake starting from 40 thousand euros with also criminal implications. We asked Europe for clarity: Spain, France, Portugal and England also sided with us; we hope to have the competent ministries of Health and Economic Development at our side.” It is not the only new regulation to deal with: since the beginning of the year, a new regulation has come into force in the USA for the control of the origin of gold, aimed at limiting the risk that some minerals contained in objects on the market could come from conflict zones such as Congo. In short, the jewelry sector’s terrain is undermined. But at VicenzaOro we will try to think about it as little as possible. At least until the last day, May 22nd.
