Watchdog Claims Compliance Gains
The head of Syria's General Authority for Managing Precious Metals, Mossab al-Aswad, said on 23 May 2026 that tightened oversight has brought most gold sold in the country's markets into compliance with national specifications. He attributed the bulk of remaining counterfeit cases to the period before the authority was created in February 2025, when weaker controls had allowed substandard pieces into circulation through forgery and bribery in the sector.
Al-Aswad described tampering with gold karats as "a red line" for the authority, and said all pieces currently stamped at jewellers' associations meet the official Syrian standard.
Two-Track Inspection Regime
Oversight runs along two parallel tracks. The first covers gold processed and stamped inside the jewellers' associations, where the authority verifies that pieces match their registered karats before they leave for retail. The second targets gold already circulating in the market, with periodic inspection tours and sampling from shops and workshops across multiple governorates.
Al-Aswad said the authority has issued warnings to several workshop and shop owners, summoning some of them to test the pieces they hold against the Syrian specification.
Portable Devices Within Three Months
The agency is preparing to deploy portable calibration devices sourced from international brands, which al-Aswad said are expected to arrive within three months. The portable units would allow inspectors to test large volumes of gold pieces on the spot during shop visits, rather than relying on samples returned to laboratories.
Minor violations identified during inspections lead to destruction of the non-conforming pieces, while clear forgery cases are referred for prosecution of the producer, distributor and seller.
What Buyers Are Told to Demand
Citizens were urged to buy only from licensed shops and to insist on a formal invoice carrying the weight, karat, date and official seal. With that paperwork, al-Aswad said, the buyer bears no loss from any later discovery that the karat does not match the specification, as responsibility shifts to the jeweller and, in turn, to the producing workshop.
The authority itself was established on 12 February 2025 as a financially and administratively independent body charged with regulating the gold and precious-metals market, overseeing pricing through the jewellers' associations, and tightening enforcement across the governorates.