G7 considers sanctions against Russian diamonds – Reuters

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This week, the Group of Seven (G7) countries will discuss four options for sanctions against Russian diamonds to deprive Russia of an important source of income that helps finance the war against Ukraine.

Source: European Pravda, citing Reuters

Details: At the meeting of technical representatives of the G7, the participants will discuss four proposals on sanctions against diamonds of Russian origin, prepared by Belgium, India, the French jewellery industry group and the World Diamond Council.

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The main differences between the proposals concern where diamonds will enter the G7 markets, how they will be verified as coming from Russia, what the diamond weight thresholds will be and the consequences for breaking the rules.

India and Belgium propose that the “entry point” be their diamond exchanges; a French group proposes to identify several such places; and the World Diamond Council proposes a more self-regulated system.

The position of New Delhi and Brussels is related to their role in the global diamond trade. But while Belgium is pushing for a stricter traceability system for jewels, which is already in place at its Antwerp exchange, India fears it will put a heavy burden on its small and medium-sized manufacturers.

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A diplomatic source told Reuters that the G7 is currently holding “intense technical calls” on a mechanism to trace the origin of diamonds.

“In November we absolutely need to clear things up if we want to meet the 1 January start,” the source said.

Background: 

• The need to ban the import of Russian precious stones into the European Union was discussed exactly one year ago. In September 2022, five countries – Poland, Ireland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia – proposed a ban as part of the seventh package of sanctions.
• However, Belgium opposed it at the time, arguing that the sanctions would affect the country’s diamond business, which accounts for at least 5% of exports and 30,000 jobs. In addition, efforts to end Russian diamond shipments have been complicated by Russia’s ability to circumvent sanctions.

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