Recently we have had a lot of questions on sanctions’ impact on the importation of rough diamonds into the United States. It is fairly common knowledge that all shipments of rough diamonds into the U.S. require a Kimberly Process Certificate and must arrive in a sealed tamper resistance container. However, we have also received some questions on what information appears on the Kimberly Process Certificate. The following outlines those requirements:

1. The title “Kimberley Process Certificate”;

2. The following statement must appear on the certificate: “The rough diamonds in this shipment have been handled in accordance with the provisions of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for rough diamonds”;

3. The country of origin must be included for shipment of parcels of unmixed origin;

4. Unique numbering with the Alpha 2 country code, according to ISO 3166-1;

5. The date of issuance and the date of expiry;

6. The name of the issuing authority;

7. Identification of the exporter and the importer;

8. The carat weight/mass;

9. The value;

10. The number of parcels in the shipment;

11. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System;

12. Validation by the exporting authority.

Keep in mind, that if the shipment is of mixed origin rough diamonds, the shipment must still be accompanied by the Kimberley Process Certificate, however, the certificate need not indicate the countries of origin of the diamonds. That said, the country-of-origin field on the certificate must be filled in with asterisks.

In addition, the mixed origin diamond shipments must still comply with all other country-of-origin reporting requirements. Moreover, the ultimate consignee is required to report receipt of the shipment to the relevant foreign exporting authority within fifteen (15) calendar days of the shipment’s arrival. That report must refer to the relevant Kimberley Process Certificate by its unique identifying number; specify the number of parcels in the shipment and the total carat weight; and identify the importer and exporter.

There has been some recent concern as to how this process is going to be impacted by the Kimberly Process’ decision to approve the sale of Marange diamonds; those diamonds are mined by companies who are designated on the United States Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals List. Although the U.S. Government has openly stated that exports from the Marange Diamond Fields should not occur, they have yet to take action against the Kimberly Process for approving the sale of diamonds from Marange.

The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in OFAC matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.