European Commission approves ban on diamonds from Russia – AFP

The European Commission has approved the proposition concerning the ban on trade of Russian diamonds. In the nearest time the document may be submitted for consideration to all EU member states.

Source: AFP with reference to the draft of the decree

Quote: "The European Union is drawing up bans on Russian diamonds as part of its 12th package of sanctions to tighten the vice on Moscow's war economy…

But it has been difficult to agree on how best to restrict the diamond trade. Being small and extremely valuable, gems are simple and lucrative to smuggle.

They can easily be mixed with stones from other sources."

Europe, and Belgium in particular, have another concern: even with the EU sanctions, Russian gems could still find their way to competitors in places like Dubai and India.

Within the course of the talks concerning the EU sanctions the G7+ member states intervened, and the most industrially developed democracies of the world agreed on the global ban.

AFP reports that the European Commission has adopted the proposition which will be submitted to the EU member states for approval within the next few days.

According to the copy of the draft, it will ban trade in diamonds originating in, transiting, or exported from Russia, as well as Russian diamonds cut and polished in third countries, and diamond jewellery.

It is planned to introduce the ban on Russian diamonds starting 1 January 2024, and the ban on the diamonds polished in third countries would be phased in between March and September next year.

According to the draft, this measure will allow "deploying an appropriate traceability mechanism that enables effective enforcement measures and minimises disruptions for market players."

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the propositions of the 12th EU sanctions package provide for the limitations on the trade of goods with a total worth of about €5 billion, specifically the ban on the export of machines and machine components which Russia uses to produce weapons used in the war against Ukraine.

The discussion of the new sanctions got off the ground after the G7+ foreign ministers approved the implementation of limitations on the diamonds of Russian origin at a meeting in Japan.

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