Chronology of Standards
We focus on standards that provide access to responsible markets for miners around the world. They are developed in alignment with ISEAL’s Code of Good Practices for Setting Standards.
ARM is currently subscribed to ISEAL and will become a full member.
Chronology of Standards
Oro Verde certification
The corporation Oro Verde created a local certification system with the same name, meaning “Green Gold”, which was developed in the biogeographic region of Chocó in Colombia by a consortium of Afro-descendant miners (from Tadó and Condoto, Chocó), two NGOs (Fundamojarras and Amichocó), and ethical European jewelers. Market acceptance of the established model exceeded expectations, leading to its expansion and replication.
ARM Founded
The Oro Verde corporation, with the support of Oxfam Novib and other Dutch NGOs, created a network called the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM). The first task ARM faced was to create a transparent and participatory social process to develop globally applicable standards.
Responsible mining network
ARM formed the network Respomin, an abbreviation of “responsible mining”. It convened Latin American artisan leaders, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) experts, NGOs, academics, public officials, representatives of international organizations, precious metal traders, refiners, and jewelers to create an innovative approach for formalizing and transforming ASM and its value chain. That same year, ARM formed a technical committee to develop Standard Zero.
Standard Zero
Standard Zero was the first standard designed for artisanal Fair Trade Gold and Associated Silver and Platinum. The standard underwent ample public consultation before ARM approved its first version in 2007. Between 2008 and 2010, the criteria for Standard Zero were tested out in Latin America.
Partnership with Fairtrade
ARM established an alliance with Fairtrade Foundation UK, aligning the standards produced by each institution. In March 2010, the Fairtrade and Fairmined Standard was published for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mined Gold and Associated Silver and Platinum. The same year, the audit and certification body FLOCERT conducted a gap analysis of the ASMOs participating in pilot testing in Latin America. In 2013 ARM’s collaboration with Fairtrade concluded, and both organizations continued their separate work with artisanal miners.
Fairmined Standard Version 2.0
ARM held a public consultation to develop version 2.0 of the Fairmined Standard, convening 130 participants from Latin America, Africa, the United States, and Asia.
Market Entry Standard
This year work began on the Market Entry Standard, in order to provide more artisanal miners with access to legal supply chains. It is being developed through a robust participatory process aligned with ISEAL codes. The standard is designed to follow a due diligence approach, converting the risk mitigation that supplying ASM gold represents for the market into an opportunity for miners to work toward continuous improvement and for traders to be an active force in generating positive changes in mining communities.
CRAFT Code: Passport to Markets
In July 2018 the CRAFT was launched: Code of Risk-mitigation for artisanal and small-scale mining engaging in Formal Trade. This is a global code, open source, aligned with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance and common framework for continuous improvement. For its development there was an Advisory Group and a Technical Committee with representatives of the gold supply chain and experts. For the first version, 400 people participated during the public consultation. For the year 2019, it is expected to begin the second round of consultation, after the application pilots.