The EU has indefinitely postponed the introduction of a ban on imports of jewelry with diamonds from Russia processed (Cut & polished – C/P) in third countries, the European Commission said in a statement explaining the provisions of the 14th package of sanctions against Russia.
Thus, as part of a new package of sanctions against Russia, EU authorities “postpone the introduction of a ban on jewelry with Russian diamonds processed in third countries other than Russia until the European Council decides to activate the ban in light of actions taken within the G7 to implement this measure.”
The text also noted that the European Union postponed for six months, until March 1, 2025, the introduction of a mandatory system for tracking imports of rough and cut natural diamonds of Russian origin into the community’s countries.
In the row the diamond center said as AWDC, we are extremely pleased that after months of intense negotiations, we have succeeded in pushing the needle to allow regularization of so-called “grandfathered stock”, defined as goods of Russian or unknown origin purchased or held before the measures against Russia took effect within EU regulation.
Sanctioning these goods and prohibiting their trade would impose an unfair and severe financial burden on diamond companies without significantly impacting Russia’s revenues. Which, in our opinion, was necessary to ensure that these goods were not in scope of the measures being taken.
Concretely this means that, if you possess non-industrial diamonds of Russian or unknown origin and can prove that these goods were already in your possession before the measures against Russia took effect, these goods can be traded as grandfathered goods.
Next to this ‘grandfathering’ principle, the 14th sanction package against Russia also allows temporary imports or exports of jewelry, for situations such as trade fairs or repairs. Furthermore, the sunrise period has been prolonged by six months (until 1 March 2025).
