Calcutta, July 30: Gold exports have the potential to jump five-fold, provided buyers are convinced about the purity of the items, a leading global industry body said.

In a report on gold hallmarking in India, the World Gold Council said there was a concern among consumers about the purity of the jewellery they were buying. The hallmarking of gold, which is voluntary in nature, is a purity certification of the precious metal.

Despite the benchmarks set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), there are widespread differences in the purity of gold certified by various centres.

"This lack of trust has compromised the gold (jewellery) export market and made gold less acceptable as collateral for other productive uses," the council said in the report.

Since the introduction of hallmarking in 2000, the BIS has made progress in developing the system but still only 30 per cent of the jewellery is hallmarked with under-caratage of 10-15 per cent.

There are more than 400,000 jewellers, of which many small and independent units run without accreditation. Most of them are yet to adopt the BIS standards because of a shortage of hallmarking centres and additional costs.

"Hallmarking is to jewellery what 'know your customer' norms are for financial services. It is essential to the success of the jewellery industry," said Somasundaram P.R., managing director (India) of the World Gold Council.

Industry sources in Calcutta said most of the organised retail jewellers get hallmarking done according to the BIS standards to maintain trust and reputation among buyers. Smaller establishments, particularly in semi-urban areas, often deviate from the standards.

Meanwhile, gold prices today fell after a brief overnight rebound at the domestic bullion market because of fresh selling by stockists and jewellery traders amidst lower global cues. In Calcutta, hallmark gold fell Rs 145 to Rs 24,195 per 10 grams.