Editor’s Note
This article highlights significant disruptions in the diamond trade following new EU sanctions on Russian imports. Implementation delays at the Antwerp Diamond Office are causing extended customs holds, contradicting earlier assurances and straining supply chains.
The European Union’s new sanctions regime is causing diamonds to be stuck at customs for over a week, disrupting supply chains, according to Antwerp traders.
The ban on Russian diamonds, which came into force on March 1, requires all diamonds imported into the EU to be checked at the Antwerp Diamond Office, a special customs center for the industry. The trade was assured that shipments would be cleared in less than 24 hours. However, even simple cases are being held for over a week, states a complaint letter to the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), which operates the diamond office in cooperation with the government.
Examples of blocked goods include rough diamonds coming directly from African producer countries, polished diamonds from processing factories, and diamonds returning to Antwerp from fairs outside the EU, the letter states. Traders explained that companies bringing back diamonds from recent exhibitions in Hong Kong also faced particular difficulties.
The EU regulations ban the import of Russian rough or polished diamonds over 1 carat from March 1 and over 0.50 carats from September 1.
The complaint calls on the AWDC to conduct a comprehensive review of the procedures in collaboration with industry stakeholders to find practical solutions that maximize impact on sanctioned sources but do not disrupt largely legal trade. The same applies to the upcoming procedures to be introduced on September 1, 2024. From that date, importers of diamonds over 0.50 carats into the EU must present a G7 certificate confirming non-Russian origin.
The AWDC is committed to “complying with the regulations while impacting our legitimate trade activities as little as possible,” said Ari Epstein, CEO of the AWDC, in a statement to the trade.
