Russia Sanctions: WFDB Protests over Single Entry Point
March 07, 24
(IDEX Online) - The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) is urging G7 and EU governments to re-think it implementation of sanctions on Russian diamonds using Antwerp as a single entry point.
They say such a move - directing all diamonds through Belgium to be verified as non-Russian - will "punish the entire industry".
From 1 March G7 and EU outlawed all diamonds over 1.0-cts from Russia, regardless of where they were cut and polished.
The WFDB, representing 27 bourses across the world, has written an open letter to governments, jointly signed by Feriel Zerouki, President of the World Diamond Council (WDC), Vipul Shah, Chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India (GJEPC), and Ronnie Vanderlinden, President of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA).
The letter says: "While strongly agreeing that the time has come for the industry to be able to trace the origin of their diamonds, we should be working together to meet these objectives but feel that the process, that has been suggested, will cause irreparable harm to the non-Russian industry."
WFDB president Yoram Dvash said, "With the current legislation enacted by the G7 countries, the WFDB has been working hard to find a consensus within the industry regarding the situation we find ourselves in. Sanctions should work in the right direction, punishing the intended party and not the entire industry."