New standards issued for children’s, adults’ jewellery
H E Dr Ali bin Masoud bin Ali al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, has issued a Ministerial Decision No 148/2017 regarding the standards of jewellery for children (ASTM F2923) and standards of jewellery for adults (ASTM F2999).
These new standards aim to ensure the health and safety of users of these jewellery, in addition to setting the safety regulations for artificial jewellery. The new standards for children’s jewellery (ASTM F2923) were set to balance the concentration of lead, antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chrome, mercury, and selenium.
These standards are to ensure the mechanical requirements for these jewellery and the percentage of cadmium in the materials that are used in manufacturing these jewellery. The proper type of jewellery for each age is also a part of this decision to ensure the safety of children.
As for the jewellery used by adults, the standards have come to ensure the balance of phthalate and nickel used in the jewellery and that is according to the safety regulations of these materials. The standards are to ensure the requirements used in manufacturing these materials.
The decision also stated that the set standards must be fol- lowed within six months of the date of its official publication and that all who violate these standards will be punished according to Royal Decree 1/78. It states that whoever violates the given laws will be fined no less than RO200 and no more than RO2,000, and be given a prison term from one week to one month.