Mandatory origin declaration for US worries diamond industry

Surat: While the country's diamond industry is struggling through a slowdown, new customs rules are coming into force in the US from April 2025 relating to Russian-mined diamonds. Now, the importer in the US must submit a self-declaration with details of the country of mining. Earlier, a declaration saying the diamond is not from Russia was accepted, industry insiders said.
The updated rules by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have diamond manufacturers and exporters concerned. It is feared the new process will create pressure on the industry and global chain to trace a diamond's country of origin and maintain records.
"The new measures, implemented through the automated commercial environment (ACE), will require importers to submit additional data on diamond shipments, ensuring compliance with an executive order. Under the updated rules, importers must declare the country of mining for all applicable diamond imports," according to the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).
A modified self-certification system has been introduced in which the importers in the US will have to confirm the diamond does not originate in Russia and the certification must be uploaded through the document image system (DIS) under a new code. "In the earlier system, a self-declaration was submitted under the category of other documents. Now there will be a specific category to upload the declaration," said an industry expert.
The new rules will come into force in April 2025, with the self-certification document requirement becoming mandatory from Jan 27, 2025, according to GJEPC. "Industry leaders are working to get more clarity on the modifications as tracing a diamond's mining country is a difficult task unless the trail is maintained from the beginning. It will increase investment on maintaining records at each level as a diamond passes through many hands and countries after mining," said a diamond manufacturer.
The sanctions against the direct import of Russian-mined diamonds by G7 countries came into force in Jan 2024, and the ban was expanded to Russian-mined diamonds processed in a third country. It should be noted that around 30% of the global rough supply comes from Russia. Roughs mined in Russia are a major source of employment in Diamond City due to their smaller size.