Diamond exporters relieved as G7 postpones diamond traceability requirement
G7 postpones diamond traceability rules to 2026, giving Indian exporters relief from costly certification requirements
Chennai: In a major relief for the diamond cutting and polishing industry in India, the G7 countries have postponed the implementation of stringent traceability requirements for polished diamond imports, pushing the deadline from March 2025 to January 1, 2026.
The G7 countries – the US, the UK, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Italy had earlier said that they will ban all imports of rough diamonds from Russia. While the US is India’s largest diamond market, Belgium in the EU is the global diamond trading hub.
In order to implement the ban, G7 had brought in mandatory submission of traceability-based evidence, including a certificate verifying the polished diamonds imported into G7 and EU are neither mined, processed, nor produced in Russia. This has been deferred to January 1, 2026. Due to this decision, Indian diamond exporters need not worry about the origin of diamonds and get into the cumbersome and costly process of certification for the exports till the extended deadline.
The delay in enforcing traceability requirements for polished diamonds reflects the complexity of establishing a robust system. India has been seeking clarity on determining compliance by the Indian diamond exporters to the G7 countries and the European Union in the wake of the ban on Russian diamonds. India has been strongly advocating the interests of SMEs and marginal diamond units and asking to recognize their active contribution to this industry and the millions of livelihoods that are dependent on it.
Russia’s diamond miner Alrosa accounts for about 40 per cent of India's rough diamond imports.
"At this stage, there is still considerable uncertainty about how the traceability system will function and how it will be governed, and the G7 must first clarify these aspects. By pushing back the deadline—which was previously set for March 1, 2025—by ten months, diamond companies now have much-needed time to adequately prepare for its implementation in their daily operations,” the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) said in a release.
Following the G7 ban on Russian diamonds, Botswana, a leading supplier of rough stones to India, was selected in November as a verification and certification hub for G7, apart from Antwerp.
