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possano esporre informazioni riservate ai concorrenti; altri sostengono che l’autogoverno del settore non potrà fornire le garanzie necessarie.
Il piano dell’UFBJOP consente di introdurre gradualmente le dichiarazioni dei fornitori, che sarebbero successivamente supportate da un “robusto sistema di garanzia della qualità”. Secondo la proposta dell’India, verrebbe istituito un nuovo sistema GEMPACT per garantire il rispetto del divieto, amministrato dal GJPEC e monitorato dal Ministero del Commercio e dell’Industria indiano. Il G7 è invitato ad aprire un ufficio a Surat o Mumbai per valutare il funzionamento di GEMPACT.
THE G7 SANCTIONS ON RUSSIAN DIAMONDS
While many hoped that the G7 sanctions on Russian diamonds would come into force on 1st January 2024, they will probably not start before March 2024. The G7 representatives who are working on the issue have declared that they intend finalising a proposal by mid-November 2023.
They will then send it to the respective governments, which may decide to modify it, separately or together with other G7 Countries. (The G7 is a forum in which members can coordinate the policies but it does not have the power to enforce what it recommends).
It is expected that the ban will initially relate to the diamonds from 1 carat up. The European Union, including Belgium, could halt the importing of rough diamonds from Russia before the ban comes into force. It has taken more time than expected for the G7 to work out a plan - the date originally considered for a proposal was May - in part because the officials had embarked on long consultations with the sector, including a recent visit to India. “We are grateful for the opportunity you have given us and the diamond industry to dialogue with you regarding the framework of diamond import requirements,” wrote the CEO of De Beers, Al Cook, in an open letter to the leaders of the G7.
“During our discussions two things became clear: why we should do it is easy, but
how we should is difficult”. It has proven so difficult that not even the operators of the sector are able to find an agreement on any solution. The Belgian government, in association with the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), has presented a plan to ban Russian diamonds. Another three groups of the sector have presented proposals: the World Diamond Council (WDC); the French jewellery association UFBJOP; the Indian Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), in association with the government of that country. Most of the plans are based on technology- based tracing services, such as Tracr, Sarine’s Diamond Journey and Everledger, which will require the registration of the information on a “distributed register”. It is a challenge to find a way in which all systems can communicate with each other, in the same way in which the SWIFT acts as an online compensation room for financial transactions. Furthermore, doubts are increasing that these systems can handle the large number of diamonds which must be traced.
Al Cook in his letter wrote: “De Beers has developed the blockchain of world- leading diamonds, Tracr, but we also recognise that no single platform based on the technology is currently able to satisfy the G7 requirements”. The UFBJOP has highlighted a similar point in its proposal: “These technologies are not mature enough to support the entire chain of value and could potentially open the door to the contamination with Russian diamonds.”
The association has requested an “assessment by third parties” to assess its reliability. The use of tracing services raises another issue: previously confidential information could be made available on an open document.
The UFBJOP has warned that the “need exists for strong and neutral intersectoral governance around a potential public register.” At the recent CIBJO congress in Jaipur, India, the president of WDC Feriel Zerouki declared that the diamond protocol of the G7 of his group “does not favour one centre over another” and it is “equal for all”. The WDC proposal requires companies to state
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