Jewelers of America (JA), U.S. national trade association of the fine jewelry industry, has organized a visit of key stakeholders to Washington to voice their concerns over the implementation of sanctions on Russian-origin diamonds to lawmakers.
JA President & CEO David J. Bonaparte led the top-level industry group which met with a dozen Democratic and Republican lawmakers and their staffs in both the House and Senate that serve on committees with oversight of trade-related issues.
According to JA’s press release received by Rough&Polished, the industry association supports efforts that will keep diamonds of Russian origin out of the supply chain, but is concerned that the proposed adoption of an exclusive physical verification and certification system in Belgium for all rough diamonds would be detrimental to the global diamond and jewelry supply chain.
“We are very concerned about the additional requirements that could take effect on September 1 – including adopting a European Union proposal that would force all G7/U.S.-bound diamonds of a half a carat and above through a single import channel in Belgium,” Bonaparte said.
According to JA, there are numerous obstacles looming over the global diamond and jewelry business due to the new origin tracing system. For one, a single import channel of rough diamonds through Belgium may pose various risks. Secondly, JA sees an urgent need to properly classify “grandfathered” goods worth trillions of USD. It also points to benefits of certifying diamonds at producer country level. Lastly, the associations wants to educate both the industry and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials about specifics of the new restrictions.
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief, Rough&Polished
