ANTWERP, Belgium: This week, G7 member international locations will talk about 4 plans for banning Russian diamonds from their markets from January 1, 2024.
The 4 proposals, ready by Belgium, India, a French jewellery trade group, and the World Diamond Council (WDC), will probably be mentioned at a technical assembly of G7 representatives this week.
Exports of Russian diamonds to G7 international locations, the U.S. Canada, Japan, Germany, Britain, Italy, and France, account for 70 % of the worldwide diamond market.
Russia is the world’s largest producer of tough diamonds, accounting for 30 % of whole world manufacturing.
To decide the place gems come from, the assembly will intention to agree on a authorized definition of traceability of diamonds.
The fundamental variations between the proposals embody the place the diamonds enter G7 markets, verifying in the event that they originate from Russia, what the burden thresholds could be, and the implications there could be for breaking the foundations.
India and Belgium will suggest that the entry level must be their diamond facilities in Mumbai and Antwerp, respectively, whereas the French group argues for a number of entry factors to forestall bottlenecks, and the WDC desires a extra self-regulating system. The weight threshold for the gems might be 1 carat or extra for polished stones.
As a part of sanctions towards Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union and the G7 have aimed to ban Russian diamonds for the reason that begin of the struggle.
The U.S. has already imposed sanctions on Russia’s state-owned diamond producer Alrosa, and main jewelers, corresponding to U.S. model Tiffany’s, stated they might now not purchase Russian diamonds.