Brazil's National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology (INMETRO) issued Ordinance No. 123 on March 16, 2021, approving the Technical Regulation for Costume Jewelry and Jewelry. The ordinance sets mandatory requirements for costume jewelry and jewelry that must be met by the entire product supply chain in the Brazilian market.
Purpose and Scope
Ordinance No. 123 prohibits the sale, in the Brazilian market, of costume jewelry and jewelry with cadmium and lead concentrations above the limits allowed in the Technical Regulation set out in the Annex to the Ordinance (Art. 3). Responsibility for complying with this standard lies with the supplier of the costume jewelry and jewelry for the finished products, regardless of any tests performed on the raw materials (Art. 3, Sole Paragraph).
Safety Requirements
Costume jewelry and jewelry must be manufactured, imported, distributed and sold in a way that poses no risk to user safety, regardless of full compliance with the published requirements (Art. 5).
Under the Technical Regulation attached to the Ordinance, no costume jewelry or jewelry formulation intended for use in contact with human skin may contain cadmium concentrations equal to or greater than 0.01% by weight of the metal present in each individual product (3.1). Likewise, lead concentrations may not be equal to or greater than 0.03% by weight of the metal present in each individual product (3.2). These measures are intended to prevent the risk of poisoning from using the product.
Market Surveillance
Throughout Brazil, costume jewelry and jewelry are subject to market surveillance actions carried out by INMETRO and the public entities linked to it through delegation agreements (Art. 8). Any action or omission that violates this Ordinance constitutes an infraction and may lead to the penalties set out in Law No. 9,933 of 1999 (Art. 9).
Effective Date
Ordinance No. 123 took effect on April 1, 2021, revoking INMETRO Ordinance No. 43 of January 22, 2016 (Art. 11).