KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Gold Association (MGA) has urged an immediate halt and ban on the import, fabrication, and sale of "gold-wrapped silver" and similar gold-wrapped products.
In a statement today, MGA said the influx of such products into the country could have a significant impact on the integrity of the country's precious metals market, causing price confusion and affecting real gold demand and the overall dynamics of precious metals.
It said that these products resembled genuine gold jewellery due to the thickness of the gold layer, making it difficult for consumers to distinguish them from real gold without professional assessment.
"This misperception creates the risk of financial loss, as consumers might unknowingly purchase these deceptive products under the false belief they are acquiring authentic gold," the association said.
MGA president Datuk Wira Louis Ng urged industry players, manufacturers, importers, retailers, distributors, and particularly enforcement agencies to formally categorise gold-wrapped silver and similar gold-wrapped products (with non-gold inner cores) as fake gold and prohibited items.
"We hope Malaysian enforcement authorities, including the Customs Department and the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry, will impose stricter regulations to prohibit the sale, trade, and exchange of these deceptive products, including on e-commerce platforms," he said.
Ng said that rigorous monitoring and enforcement were required to safeguard consumer rights.
MGA said that after careful consideration and discussions with key industry players, including manufacturers, retailers, pawnbrokers, Ar-Rahnu, and other stakeholders, it had unanimously decided to reject such products and fully comply with measures to halt these products' production, importation, and sale.
"This commitment ensures manufacturers will not fabricate these products, and retailers will not sell them in Malaysia," it added. – BERNAMA