Aleksey Moiseev, Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister, said that the diamond industry must support initiatives to “classify synthetic diamond products for customs clearance under separate product codes”. According to Rough & Polished, Moiseev broached the subject in a meeting with Alok Vardhan Chaturvedi, Chairman of the Kimberley Process, and Ambassador of the Republic of India to Russia, D. Bala Venkatesh Varma. Russia will become KP chair in 2020.
Moiseev said that his country is working to promote this within the KP, and that the new system, which will be implemented (pending authorisation) starting January 1, 2022, will include the implementation of special 6-digit codes (HS codes) for synthetic rough stones and diamonds: 7104 21 and 7104 91 respectively.
Moiseev said: “We hope that India will actively support our work at the national level, ensuring the adoption of separate customs codes for synthetic diamonds in India, tightening the regulation of the domestic market to ensure consumer protection. Russia has already passed a law prohibiting synthetics from being called precious stones”.
