The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has reiterated its support for the objectives of the G7 to restrict the import of rough and polished diamonds originating in Russia.
According to the organization's press release, it will continue to cooperate with the G7 and the World Diamond Council (WDC) in their efforts to establish a practical and effective mechanism to fulfill these objectives.
WFDB said that it seeks to ensure that the mechanism to be adopted by the G7 will facilitate access of responsibly sourced diamonds to G7 markets and will limit impediments and unnecessary additional costs to diamond trading.
WFDB recognizes that a single point of entry mechanism of diamond trade will oblige companies from around the world who wish to market polished diamonds within the G7 to open an office in this single point of entry. Having only one point for registration and inspection will impose additional costs of time and money to the diamond trade, WFDB said.
WFDB President Yoram Dvash said: “The proposed mechanism as we understand it will be detrimental to the worldwide diamond industry throughout the entire pipeline – from producing countries through to the consumer. It is possible to create a more efficient and effective mechanism by allowing additional major diamond centers that deal with rough diamonds (for example, Israel, Mumbai and Dubai), as well as the producing countries in Africa and elsewhere, to conduct the inspection and registration themselves, thus streamlining the process and saving considerable costs. I call upon the G7 countries to engage with the industry organizations in order to reach a more equitable and balanced mechanism”.
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished
