Stricter Rules to Outlaw Russian Diamonds

(IDEX Online) - importers will need to meet stricter rules from 1 January 2026 to ensure sanctioned diamonds from Russia do not enter the EU.

They will have to complete standardized documents, known as Due Diligence Statements on Diamond Origin for all polished stones over 0.50-cts, in addition to their customs declaration.

The move tightens procedures from the current practice of self-attested declarations.

But the new statements are still only an interim step ahead of the requirement - at a date yet to be finalized - to use a digital traceability system.

Traders must, from 1 January, declare that the non-industrial, natural, polished diamonds in their shipments were not mined, extracted, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Russian Federation, even if they were substantially transformed into other products elsewhere.

The G7 and EU nations first introduced a ban on Russian diamonds on 1 January 2024, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine almost two years earlier.

Phased expansions subsequently lowered size thresholds and closed third-country loopholes.

The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), which worked closely with the EU on the new rules, welcomed the postponement of a mandatory digital traceability platform.

Pi courtesy AWDC.