The European Union has extended the “sunrise period” for sanctions on Russian diamonds by six months and added an important concession for goods that predate the rules. The traceability program for imports of rough and polished natural diamonds will become mandatory on March 1, 2025, and not on September 1, 2024, the EU stated.

The extension’s purpose is “to allow more time to set up the G7 traceability scheme,” the EU said in its questions and answers.This follows calls by De Beers and other industry figures to extend the interim period, during which importers may use other documentation to show that diamonds are not Russian. 

The decision by the European Union on 24 June to defer its stricter sanctions on the import of Russian diamonds to March 2025 came as a big relief to the Indian diamond industry, particularly the polishing sector. India imports more than 30 percent of rough diamonds from Russia for cutting and polishing.