Ex-Diplomat Challenges Antwerp Node for De Beers
April 22, 24(IDEX Online) - De Beers has hired a former senior British diplomat to challenge the designation of Antwerp as the sole entry point for diamonds entering EU countries.
Emma Wade-Smith (pictured), who was was the UK's consul general in New York until January, is now lobbying Western governments as the British miner's newly-appointed senior vice president, government affairs.
She and a team based in Washington DC are calling for additional nodes or entry points in major diamond producing countries including Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Canada.
A spokesman for De Beers told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper that additional nodes "would enhance the effectiveness of diamond source verification while avoiding unintended negative consequences for ethical non-Russian diamond producing countries and the legitimate non-Russian diamond trade."
The G7 nations, including 27 EU countries, account for 70 per cent of diamond sales globally. Since 1 March they have outlawed imports of all Russian gem quality diamonds of 1.0-cts or above, regardless of where they were cut and polished.