Iran Press/ Europe: In the latest move to curb Russia’s ability to fund its war against Ukraine, the group of seven nations including US, UK, Germany, Canada, Japan, France, Italy took the decision. That will expand to include Russian diamonds that have been processed in third countries from Mar. 1, with a full traceability system implemented by the start of September.
Earlier attempts to sanction Russian gems in Europe had met resistance from leading importer nations like Belgium, which had argued that a simple ban would just shift the lucrative gem trade elsewhere.
The diamond industry has spent much of the past three months aggressively lobbying G7 decision makers behind the scenes about how the ban should be implemented, focusing on the method used to trace diamonds.
A diamond’s origin is clear at the start of the supply chain when it is issued a certificate under the Kimberley Process, which was designed to end the sale of so-called blood diamonds that financed wars. But after that, the stones can become difficult to track.
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