Historically, the Integrity Pledge was an initiative of the Diamond Importers’ Association (DIA) with the Hong Kong Tourism Board in the 70’s and later adapted by Diamond Federation of Hong Kong (DFHK) after the merger of DIA & the Hong Kong Diamond Bourse (HKDB) in 2000.

Over the years, with the support of the HKSAR Government’s trade ordinance and policies, the maturity of the grading laboratories and equipment and the traders’ readiness, DFHK enhanced the Integrity Pledge and upgraded it to a higher level and rolled out the NDQA Mark Scheme in 2015. The objectives and benefits of the scheme are beneficial to the consumers, the participants and Hong Kong Jewellery Industry as a whole.

Objectives and benefits of the scheme

1)To protect consumers and enhance retailers’ reputation

Under the NDQA Mark Scheme (hereunder "the Scheme”), the participant’s pledge to integrity and quality will raise the credibility of retailers, protect consumers’ rights and ultimately, enhance retailers’ reputation.

2) To build Hong Kong as a brand, a hub for diamond shopping

The Scheme provides an independent third-party monitoring system on diamond quality disclosure which enables consumers to buy diamonds with perfect confidence. With the industry wide-support on the Scheme, Hong Kong can be promoted as a brand for consumers buying diamonds.

3) To improve sales of participating retailers

The Scheme provides a fair business environment to the industry. Participating retailers must be professional and honest in conducting their trade, ensure that only natural diamonds are sold and divulge all information about the diamond in the selling process.

"Natural Diamond Quality Assurance Mark”, being displayed at the participating retailers’ shops, is the ultimate quality assurance which enables consumers to buy diamonds with perfect confidence. This will further encourage sales and create a win-win situation for consumers and participating retailers.

DFHK undertakes the leadership role in protecting consumer rights with the cooperation of the diamond industry. Following the success of the "Quality Gold Mark” and "Natural Fei Cui Quality Mark” carried out by Hong Kong Jewellers'& Goldsmiths' Association and The Kowloon Pearls, Precious Stones, Jade, Gold and Silver Ornament Merchants Association, DFHK initiated the "NDQA Mark” scheme which is the ultimate quality assurance in strengthening consumer confidence and creates desire for buying diamonds in Hong Kong.

All participants in the DFHK’s NDQA Mark scheme agree to be bound by the DFHK’s Integrity Pledge and all relevant laws and regulations, including the Trade Description Ordinance and its orders.

DFHK acts as an independent third party to monitor the quality of diamonds, checking if they are natural, if they have been treated and if claims about them are accurate. This process entails initial assessments of any merchant’s background or reputation and impromptu on-site inspections, after which diamond samples are assessed by independent and reputable authentication laboratories.

In addition, the DFHK sets a self-regulatory manual and advises on precautionary measures to ensure that the diamonds which merchants sell are natural. Such measures cover diamond sourcing procedures, traceability of goods, natural diamond screening equipment and other devices and monitoring systems.

1) Consumer rights protection

The DFHK strives to educate consumers that when buying diamond jewellery in Hong Kong, their rights are fully protected by Trade Description Ordinance and its orders. According to the ordinance, "diamond’ means "natural diamond”. Any description of non-natural diamonds using the single word "diamond” without an expression of artificial, made-made, synthetic or similar may be regarded as deceptive disclosure and lead to criminal prosecution. Furthermore, the DFHK stresses the importance of true representation of diamond quality. It educates consumers that all internationally recognized authentication on diamond quality (colour and clarity) is done by non-quantitative methods, and therefore one grade variance is acceptable.

Unfair Trade Practices
https://www.customs.gov.hk/en/consumer_protection/trade_desc/unfair/index.html

The Trade Descriptions (Unfair Trade Practices) (Amendment) Ordinance 2012 extends the coverage of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, Cap 362 (TDO) so as to prohibit specified unfair trade practices deployed by traders against consumers, including

• false trade descriptions of services,
• misleading omissions,
• aggressive commercial practices,
• bait advertising,
• bait-and-switch and
• wrongly accepting payment.