The 2015 CIBJO Congress held in Salvador, the Capital of the northeastern Brazilian State of Bahia from May 4-6 th, 2015, the first ever to be held in a Latin American country, came to a successful close after three days of fruitful deliberations, culminating with the arrival at a consensus on the controversial subject of grading and gemmological laboratory ethics. Before the formal closing of the Congress, CIBJO’s General Assembly unanimously elected Gaetano Cavalieri as CIBJO President for another two-year term. At the same time Roland Naftule and Eli Avidar were elected to serve as CIBJO’s Vice Presidents for this period. The General Assembly also elected a new board of directors, and officers to head the various sectors and commissions.
The General Assembly also confirmed that the 2016 CIBJO Congress will be held in Yerevan, Armenia, hosted by the Government of Armenia and the Armenian Jewellers Association.
Immediately after the closing session, CIBJO’s new Board of Directors met for the first time in formal session and decided to draft a practical guidance on the standards and systems that should be expected from grading laboratories, for the trade and especially the retailers, based on the CIBJO Blue Book recommendations. The Board of Directors also agreed to undertake a robust educational programme targeting retailers, that use grading reports when selling gemstones.
The following is the list of the new leadership of the CIBJO for the period 2015-2017 :-
HONORARY PRESIDENT
Mr. Eli Izhakoff, USA
PRESIDENT
Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, Italy
VICE PRESIDENTS
Mr. Roland Naftule, USA
Mr. Eli Avidar, Israel
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND TREASURER
Mr. Marc-Alain Christen, Switzerland
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, Italy
Mr. Roland Naftule, USA
Mr. Eli Avidar, Israel
Mr. Marc Alain Christen, Switzerland
Mr. Charles Abouchar, Switzerland
Mrs. Ingebjorg Alfsen, Norway
Mr. Nilam Alawdeen, Japan
Ms. Stella Layton, UK
Mr. Uri Ariel, Canada
Mr. Gerard Atlan, France
Mr. Giuseppe Aquilino, Italy
Mrs. Karina Ratzlaff, Germany
Mr. James Courage, UK
Mr. Gagik Gevorkian, Russia
Mr. Ari Epstein, Belgium
Mr. Corrado Facco, Italy
Ms. Cecilia Gardner, USA
Mr. Jacques Branellec, Philippines
Mr. Douglas Hucker, USA
Mr. Jonathan Kendall, UK
Mr. Mehul Durlabhji, India
Mr. Reuven Kaufman, USA
Mr. Nicholas Paspaley, Australia
Mr. Ernie Blom, South Africa
Mr. Udi Sheintal, Israel
Mr. Avi Paz, Israel
Mr. Erik Jens, Netherlands
Mr. Vichian Veerasakri, Thailand
Mr. Benjamin Hackman, USA
Mr. Ruben Bindra, USA
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, Italy
Mr. Roland Naftule, USA
Mr. Eli Avidar, Israel
Mr. Marc Alain Christen, Switzerland
Mr. Gerard Atlan, France
Mr. James Courage, UK
Mr. Avi Paz, Israel
Mr. Corrado Facco, Italy
Ms. Cecilia Gardner, USA
Mr. Douglas Hucker, USA
Mr. Jonathan Kendall, UK
Mr. Gagik Gevorkian, Russia
Mrs. Karina Ratzlaff, Germany
Mr. Udi Sheintal, Israel
PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL
Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, Italy
Mr. Eli Izhakoff, USA
Mr. Avi Paz, Israel
Mr. Roland Naftule, USA
Mr. Marc-Alain Christen, Switzerland
Mr. Eli Avidar, Israel
Mr. James Courage, UK
Mr. Douglas Hucker, USA
Mr. Jonathan Kendall, UK
Mr. Moti Besser, Israel
SECTOR A
President: Mr. Roland Naftule, USA
Vice-President: Mr. Thomas Lind, Germany
Vice-President: Mr. Gerard Grospiron, France
SECTOR B
President: Mr. Willie Hamilton, UK
Vice-President: Mr. Michael Rawlinson, UK
Vice-President: Ms. Karina Sena, Brazil
SECTOR C
President: Ms. Bernadette Pinet-Cuoq, France
Executive Vice-President: Mr. Simon Rainer, UK
Vice-President: Ms. Carla Pinheiro, Brazil
Vice-President: Ms. Karina Ratzlaff, Germany
ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE NETWORKING COMMISSION
President: Mr. Simon Rainer, UK
Vice-President: Ms. Sandrine Marcot, France
COLOURED STONE COMMISSION
President: Mr. Nilam Alawdeen, Japan
Vice-President: Mr. Charles Abouchar, Switzerland
Vice-President: Mr. Douglas Hucker, USA
DIAMOND COMMISSION
President: Mr. Udi Sheintal, Israel
Vice-President: Mr. Moti Besser, Israel
Vice-President: Mr. Harry Levy, UK
ETHICS COMMISSION
President: Ms. Cecilia Gardner, USA
Vice-President: Mr. Udi Sheintal, Israel
Vice-President: Mr. James Riley, UK
GEMMOLOGICAL COMMISSION
President: Mr. Hanco Zwaan, Netherlands
Vice-President: Dr. Claudio Milisenda, Germany
Vice-President: Dr. Pornsawat Whatanakul, Thailand
INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHOW COMMISSION
President: Mr. Corrado Facco, Italy
Vice-President: Mr. Adam Lau, Hong Kong
Vice-President: Mr. Jonathan Kendall, UK
MARKETING & EDUCATION COMMISSION
President: Mr. Jonathan Kendall, UK
Vice-President: Mr. James Riley, UK
Vice-President: Mr. Thomas Lind, Germany
PEARL COMMISSION
President: Mr. Kenneth Scarratt, Thailand
Vice-President: Mr. Shigeru Akamatsu, Japan
Vice-President: Mr. Jacques Branellec, Philippines
Vice-President: Mr. Peter Bracher, Australia
Vice-President: Mr. Olivier Segura, France
PRECIOUS METALS COMMISSION
President: Ms. Stella Layton, UK
Vice-President: Mrs. Karina Ratzlaff, Germany
Vice-President: Mr. James Courage, UK
CORAL COMMISSION
President: Mr. Enzo Liverino, Italy
Vice-President: Ms. Pornsawat Whatanakul, Thailand
Vice-President: Mr. George Lu, Taiwan
Vice-President: Mr. Fabio D’Amico, Italy
INTERNAL FINANCE AND AUDIT COMMITTEE
Mr. Marc Alain Christen, Switzerland
Mrs. Karina Ratzlaff, Germany
Mr. Douglas Hucker, USA
Mr. Jonathan Kendall, UK
