Financial Times

Need for a gem lab in Sri Lanka
By T. Rusiripala
As technological advances create new techniques with intriguing and baffling results in the gem industry, researchers as well as traders and customers are looking at ways and means of guaranteeing and ensuring the authenticity of the gems they deal with.

New technology has resulted in the production of new synthetic stones and stimulants very difficult to be identified from the natural and the original. In addition there are several advanced enhancement methods commonly applied in the industry such as heat treatment and irradiation to improve gem colour and the wide use of resins and polymer to conceal natural flaws and increase clarity.

Some of these techniques have created a great degree of confusion in the markets so much so that even scientists have had divergent opinions in certain instances. As a result there is a growing need for continued research as well as authentic sources for guaranteeing the true nature of a gemstone and consequently its value.

Sri Lanka being a major gem producing country and widely acknowledged the world over for special qualities is facing a serious marketing problem in this context. There are only a few reputed laboratories in the world which offer their expertise to members of the gemstone and jewellery trade as well as to private individual.

All such facilities however are available in either Europe or USA and for local gem dealers and the industry this is a tedious, costly and time-consuming exercise.

Trade associations and market leaders have urged government to provide a lab facility in Sri Lanka. A few years back the initiative was taken to build a fund towards this objective with contributions from exporters collected by the National Gem and Jewellery Authority.

To date all gem exporters are making a contribution /levy of 0.25% of the export value to a special lab fund. Nearly Rs 50 million has been collected so far and the fund continues to grow with more contributions coming from exporters.

In 2002, the then minister in charge of the NGJA initiated a MOU with the gem-testing laboratory of the American Gem Traders Association in USA. A payment was made out of this special lab fund amounting to about $65,000 in consideration of a interim arrangement to facilitate gem testing pending the setting up of a lab here.

The proposal however did not materialise and the subject remains dormant. Even a promise by a previous government for financial assistance from the government to set up a lab has not been fulfilled. The only authentic lab facility the country has is the one operated by the NGJA. This is however - in the context of developments in gemology - not up to accepted international standards.

Gemstone reports have become an integral part of the gem market. Although earlier this area was confined to the professionals, at present more and more customers in all parts of the world are becoming aware of the need for authenticating gems.

The modern gem report is not merely an identification report. In its comprehensive nature it constitutes a guarantee for the authenticity of a gem. Such a facility is becoming a daily requirement in the market.

A recent controversy that developed in the global scenario regarding the heat treatment practices for sapphires followed in Sri Lanka ended up with all leading laboratories in the world jointly engaged in a research programme which is still continuing.

All these factors point towards a great need for a high standard laboratory for Sri Lanka. We have eminent scientists and a dynamic private sector. We have already built up a fund that will continue to grow. We have the right background to collect research data.

The time is right for Sri Lanka to have its own laboratory and one of the ways is to get the NGJA to provide funds for the setting up of a lab pending the collection of the amount later. The other option is for the private sector to float a Public Limited Liability company for this purpose. The writer is a former chairman of the NGJA and a well-known figure in the gem industry.

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