Indian officials are seeking for their own diamond screening center to comply with new G7 penalties, arguing that a single entry point in Belgium is raising prices and jeopardizing jobs. According to Indian officials, establishing a dedicated screening center in the country will help speed the procedure.
S Jaishankar, India’s external affairs minister, raised the issue last week with a group led by Belgian Foreign Secretary Theodora Gentzis.
The GJEPC believes that the sanctions are causing some shipments to take an additional three weeks. Two-thirds of all diamonds produced in India are exported to G7 countries, and they must now be certified as non-Russian at Antwerp’s Diamond Office.
Exporters in India are concerned that the latest restrictions, imposed last month and forbidding Russian items regardless of where they are cut and polished, are causing delays and driving up rough prices.