For the first time in its 88-year history, the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) has defined its membership standards and compliance practices. The industry’s guardian of ethics and integrity has always advocated compliance with the law in its mission statement but never spelled out what that meant for members or the industry.

The new statement “articulates the standards by which JVC members conduct their businesses, and the compliance standards which support their commitment to ethics and integrity,” says JVC executive director and general counsel Cecilia L. Gardner. “This is a tremendous benefit to our members. They can tell their clientele what it is they have committed themselves to in their business practices.”

Gardner announced the new standards and practices, the result of a year of work by the JVC board of directors, on Oct. 2. They go into effect with the 2001 membership year. JVC also plans to step up efforts to teach members, business partners, and customers what compliance with those standards means, says JVC president Marvin Markman. In addition, the JVC logo will be used more extensively in 2001. “Use of the logo on stationery and advertising will support members’ businesses by providing them with a symbol of their commitment to legal compliance,” Markman says.

The new statement of standards and practices and the promotional push in 2001 are part of an effort to create “an exciting new identity for the JVC,” Markman says. For more information, contact JVC at 25 West 45th St., Suite 400, New York, NY 10036; (212) 997-2002.