De Beers Questions Practicality of G7 Sanctions
December 26, 23
(IDEX Online) - Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group, says the G7 sanctions on Russian diamonds, due to take effect next week, may prove impractical to implement.
"With the best will in the world, the average customs agent will not be able to look at one diamond and another diamond and go, 'That's the Russian one'," he said in an interview with the Financial Times.
Cook (pictured) questioned the effectiveness of tracking system has yet to will be used to police the sanctions.
The G7 nations say some kind of a traceability solution will be adopted in September 2024, but have yet to provide further details.
Belgium wants mandatory third-party blockchain technology to certify the provenance of all polished diamonds above 1.0-ct and all rough over 1.4-ct.
The World Diamond Council wants a self-regulated ban, with spot checks, on +1.0-ct goods, with sellers declaring they were not Russian, and setting up mechanisms to segregate them from non-Russian stones.