New York: The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has elected World Diamond Council (WDC) president Edward Asscher as one of the new representatives to its board.

Asscher will represent the trade association forum on the RJC’s board of directors, the industry standards organization said last week. His appointment was announced along with several others at the RJC’s annual general meeting (AGM) on June 1.

“Our mission to continuously improve the integrity of the global jewelry and watch supply chain has been strengthened by [our new] appointments, and the guidance of the board alongside our interim executive director, John Hall, will be critical to helping us ensure we build upon our already very strong foundations,” said David Bouffard, RJC chair and vice president of corporate affairs for Signet Jewelers.

Other representatives elected at the meeting:

• Raj Kumar Jain, from Gemstones Corporation, will represent the diamonds and gemstones traders, cutters and polishers forum.
  Ankur Goyal, of MMTC-PAMP will lead the precious metals, traders, refiners and hedgers forum.
• Arien Gessner, of Richline Group, and Roger Forman, from the Marathon Company, will be in charge of the jewelry manufacturer and/or wholesaler forum.
• Pravin Pattni, from Minar Jewellers, will represent the jewelry retailer forum.
• Rajesh Neelakanta, of BVC Logistics, was reelected to lead the service industries forum.