At present there is no clear understanding of what the ‘made in’ label implies. In the absence of legislation there are cases where jewellery is sold under the Italian label although it is made in other countries. It was pointed out that this is leading to the Italian jewellery sector losing out on its long established assets of quality, style and creative design. Although the regulations stipulate that 47% of the jewellery has to be made in Italy to qualify for the label, it is not enforced.

VicenzaOro 1 started on January 15, with a serious five-hour conference on the status of the ‘Made In Italy’ label. Heads of industry associations and jewellery companies deliberated on the new global economic order in both production and consumption patterns, which has resulted in an erosion of Italy’s manufacturing base. They brought up the issue of outsourcing production to lower cost countries and its ramifications on the approximately 4000 SME jewellery producers in the industry.

Although jewellery exports from Italy registered a drop of around 5% in 2005, the fair itself got off to a promising start with a good turnout on the opening day. VicenzaOro 1 with over 1600 exhibitors is the first major jewellery show on the global trade calendar and traditionally sets the styles and trends for the seasons ahead.

‘I call upon the EU to find the right tools and measures to enforce regulations to safeguard our production,” said Valentino Ziche, President of Vicenza di Fiera. Gian Auricchio, head of the committee for trademarks and counterfeiting of the Confederation of Italian Industry stated that is likely that labeling legislation will be passed by the EU this year. It was generally agreed that the Italian jewellery industry would need to restructure itself, and focus on design and value added inputs in order to retain its competitiveness.