The World Diamond Council (WDC) has marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment by the United Nations of the International Day of Peace with the official public launch of its upgraded System of Warranties (SoW).
“We thus felt it an appropriate occasion to launch the upgraded System of Warranties. It reflects our vision for a diamond industry that is not only free of conflict, but through its actions also promotes safe and secure working environments, equal opportunity and proper governance,” said WDC President Edward Asscher.
Like the original SoW introduced 18 years ago, the upgraded SoW requires that all sellers of rough diamonds, polished diamonds and jewelry containing diamonds include a declaration on B2B invoices and other transaction documents, such as consignment memos, stating that the goods being sold comply with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), and thus meet the Kimberley Process’ standard of being conflict free.
What’s different to the original is that the revised warranty statement additionally includes a commitment that the sellers adhere to the updated WDC SoW Guidelines, which expressly support universally accepted principles of human and labor rights, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering (AML).
A critical new element of the upgraded SoW is that all users will be required to register on a dedicated website - https://www.wdcsow.org and once a year successfully complete an online self-assessment, to gauge their compliance with the WDC SoW Guidelines.
To enable a smooth transition from the original to the upgraded SoW, there will be a transitional period, during which companies still can decide to accept the older warranties from their clients, of three years in the case of rough purchases and five years in the case of all other purchases.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
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