Time to Retrospect & Act

Stakeholders at the World Diamond Congress agreed that the global diamond industry has to take into account the current situations and issues plaguing the industry, reflect on them and take action accordingly. By Kavita Parab

At present, the diamond industry -be it domestic or international - is at a stage where there are many issues like FTC guidelines, reduced bank exposure, changes in the functions of the trade shows, and synthetic diamonds. These were the issues discussed at the recently concluded World Diamond Congress. The Congress, bi-annual meeting of IDMA and WFDB was held at Bharat Diamond Bourse in Mumbai.

It was also the first time the Congress was live streamed across the bourses in the world.

Kimberley Process & System of Warranties (SoW)
During its 14th AGM in Mumbai, World Diamond Council (WDC) reached consensus on critical areas of reform for both the Kimberley Process and the WDC System of Warranties(SoW). WDC in a statement said that “a Board- instructed strategic planning committee will develop a member’s toolkit to help in the implementation of the guidelines respecting the realities and practicalities of the diamondsupply chain. These guidelines will introduce the strongest level of adherence to date for SoW statement users, requiring adherence to universally accepted principles on human and labour rights, anticorruption and anti-money laundering in support of mandatory Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) implementation including the inclusion of OECD due diligence guidelines. Changes will be implemented on an ongoing basis and will be included in the upcoming 2021-2025 WDC Strategic Plan.”

Also, the board members re-affirmed their continued commitment to KP reform with agreement to push forward on an expanded definition of conflict diamonds to address human security and environmental concerns. The WDC Board meeting included the appointment of Edward Asscher as Vice President, the re-election of Ronnie Vanderlinden as Treasurer, and reappointment of Udi Sheintal as Secretary-General.

During the Congress, the GJEPC also urged the global diamond industry to incorporate a process enabling the certification of diamonds that do not carry the stigma of corruption or money laundering and are not linked in any way to terrorism or terrorist financing.

Pramod Kumar Agrawal, Chairman, GJEPC said, “World diamond industry need to walk the path of sustainability. We should reform the way we do business and reform should begin with selfregulation.” He further mentioned that Indian diamond industry as a whole also proposes to adopt sustainable development practices.

Even Dr. Gaetano Cavelleri, CIBJO President spoke about responsible sourcing, unity and cooperation. He said, “I think that one of our commitments and responsibility is to be responsible in how we source our goods wherever they come from.”

Stephane Fischler, WDC President, praised the Indian diamond industry and the way it has been working towards bettering lives of its workers. He also said that it’s commendable to see the way Indian diamond industry has evolved over the years and has reached its current stage being one of the most important centers of global diamond trade. In his address he spoke about the importance of ethics in business. He said, “This industry has one big treasure, that is its reputation. Anytime and everytime this reputation is damaged by others, the entire industry has to pay the price.”

Need for Diamond Bodies to Play Stronger Role
World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) President Ernie Blom called on exchange presidents and members to join hands to boost the global presence of the trade organization at the conclusion of the Congress. He said, “Each president and member is an ambassador for the WFDB and the diamond trade and the good that diamonds do and needs to communicate this both in the countries in which they operate and when abroad. We have an enormous amount of knowledge, experience and intellect among our presidents and that should be used to find ways for us to further boost our global role.”

Even Anoop Mehta, President of Bharat Diamond Bourse had called for a united approach to work towards tackling the issues at hand. He said, “The year 2019 will be a tough year for the diamond industry. It’s better that we put aside our differences and come together and fight the challenges before it’s too late. We should distribute the work to different organisations, and make sure it gets done.”

Need to promote diamond as a product
Over the years, the industry has been giving utmost importance to 4Cs. However, with changing time, diamond narrative didn’t change. The industry stuck to the 4Cs which only added to the mystery of the diamonds. In order to protect the 4Cs, the industry ignored the mystique that surrounds the product. Ronnie Vander Linden, IDMA President said, “I see it as our task to promote our product to our direct customers. Challenge lies in dealing with the consumers who are aware of choices and whether the industry is delivering an exciting product to them.”

Our focus should be on how to remove the mystery from diamonds and bring back the mystic that is always been present,” advised Ronnie Vander Linden.

According to him, the responsibility to promote diamonds doesn’t only lie with the trade organisations but with the entire diamond value chain. The promotion should begin from the top to down.

Ernie Blom, WFDB President during his talk mentioned how important it is to remain positive during challenging times. Every challenge brings along the solution but the industry needs to look for cues said Ernie Blom. “What we deal with is a precious and rare product. The industry is built on hope and we must retain the hope and confidence that characterizes us. Natural diamonds symbolize a lot of human characteristics like love, commitment, long-term relationships and the industry needs to promote its product on the basis of these characteristics,” said Ernie Blom .

He also spoke about how Lightbox jewellery will help the natural diamond industry to regain its position. In his opinion, with the Lightbox jewellery, finally the consumers would know what lab-grown diamonds are worthy of. It will help consumer understand that the natural diamonds are not only precious but also rare.

Collective Outlook
The industry leaders who gathered in Mumbai took back home a lot of hope and renewed vigour to fight back the challenges. A lot of discussions happened and consensus was reached on a lot of issues like how it is important to engage in a dialogue with the synthetic producers to resolve the concerns of the natural diamond industry.

The natural diamond is a unique product and its uniqueness is its USP. The industry needs to go beyond the 4Cs and promote the diamond. The diamond narrative needs to be changed as per the changed consumers.

HS codes are likely to be adopted in key industry centers of the world as WFDB is encouraging its bourses to persuade their governments to bring out their separate HS (Harmonized System) codes and the KP (Kimberley Process) too will push their 74 member countries to have their separate HS codes. In India, HS codes have been implemented on polished diamonds and the implementation of it on rough diamonds is currently being looked into.

SOW was agreed upon unanimously and has been circulated to all the member bourses.