The Directorate of Precious Metals & Gemstone Testing is one of fourteen directorates forming the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. The directorate itself is composed of two sections that deal with assaying and gemmology and the three main functions of the directorate as a whole are:
1. Serving the trade and public with their gemmological and assaying needs.
2. Overseeing the local jewellery sector to ensure that traders adhere to national and international laws and nomenclature.
3. Protecting consumers and the trade from fraud within the market place.
The two sections of the Directorate deal with all aspects of gemmology and precious metal assaying and have existed for over a decade. The Assay Office was established in 1979 via Amiri Decree No.19 and the Gem & Pearl Testing Laboratory followed in 1990 via Amiri Decree No. 10.
Both sections were amongst the first to be established in the Middle East and since their establishment they have developed a positive reputation within the Middle East and beyond.