Bahrain's gold market remains a safe and authentic place to trade in precious metals with efforts continuing to ensure no fraudulent products are registered, reaffirmed an expert.
With more than 450 CRs (Commercial Registrations) legally allowed to manufacture, trade, import and export gold and precious metals, monitoring and inspection efforts have remained steady to ensure top-quality legally stamped items are offered in the market.
Gold that is legally traded in Bahrain ranges from 14K to 24K which is determined by the purity of the gold in the piece of jewellery, with regular inspections conducted to ensure adherence to protocols.
Details were revealed during a special Instagram webinar organised by the Bahrain Society of Chemists which hosted Industry, Commerce and Tourism Ministry’s Inspection and Standards Directorate head Sayed Ali Jawad.
“There are more than 450 CRs (Commercial Registrations) that are legally allowed to manufacture, trade and import gold and precious metals in Bahrain,” he said during the live session.
“We are collaborating with authorities through our monitoring role to ensure that standards and protocols are followed and quality is maintained.
“The Bahrain gold market is full of pioneers who have built their reputation through hard work over long years so there is no cheating in the traditional sense. However, there have been errors due to a lack of understanding of the law, technical specifications and required procedure.
“We conduct regular inspections and cases of deliberate deception, fraud and cheating in the Bahraini gold market are extremely rare.”
Mr Jawad stressed the importance of frequent shop inspections by the ministry to ensure that all legal procedures are carried out and strict protocols are being adhered to.
“If we get suspicious of an item we take samples for testing but the Bahraini market is generally safe,” he added.
“We get certified gold bars from across the world – mostly from the UAE – and we inspect these as well in the lab to identify their purity and determine if they are exempt from taxation.
“Merchants work hand-in-hand with authorities to preserve the sanctity of the market and its hard-earned wide-spread reputation.”
He highlighted that the first step taken by merchants must be to submit requests at the directorate for testing and authentication – a process which benefits traders and customers.
Meanwhile, Bahrain Society of Chemists vice-chairman Hussain Al Halwachi said that the session was held to raise awareness about precious metals, legal requirements and available government services.
He also highlighted the various high-end technology used by the directorate’s laboratory to inspect, identify, examine and determine gold purity as well as other precious metals. “In the past, the gold examination sector relied on a lot of tests – some of which took a great deal of time and effort,” he stated.
“But due to the progress of science, accurate and fast techniques are now relied upon to examine gold samples such as energy dispersive X-ray fluorescent known as EDXRF as well as other devices.
“Modern lasers are used to mark the examination number on items which has also further developed the process as opposed to marking the pieces by hand as was done in the past.
“It is critical to raise people’s awareness regarding products they want to buy so that they are fully aware of the types of gold, prices, mixtures and purity which will help them make the right choices while also preserving their rights and the safety of the gold.”
Meanwhile, Mr Jawad highlighted that through technological development different methods of creating various delicate pieces, mixtures and combinations have also progressed.
He also revealed that efforts are underway to achieve the ISO – 17025 accreditation for testing laboratories.
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