Condividiamo alcune notizie provenienti dagli Uffici Esteri dell’ICE.
MAKE INDIA KEY NODE TO VERIFY ORIGIN OF DIAMONDS, INDIAN OFFICIALS TELL EU
(ICE) – ROMA, 21 GIU – If it’s Belgium, why not India? New Delhi, along with the Indian diamond lobby, have sent across the message to the G7 club as the countdown begins to a sterner sanctions regime on Russian stones, beginning September 1.
At a meeting in Brussels last month, the Indian trade body, senior government officials and Indian customs officials have told the European Union authorities that India, which imports about 90% of rough stones mined in the world, should be a key nodal checkpoint to verify whether diamonds mined in Russia are sneaking into the affluent markets whose governments are backing the sanctions.
On December 6, 2023, G7 leaders announced import restrictions on non-industrial diamonds mined, processed, or produced in Russia. Between March 1, 2024 and August 31, 2024, the sanctions were confined to rough stones of one carat and above which were processed in a third country such as India. The weight threshold would be lowered to 0.5 and above carats from September 1, 2024 – at which point the regime would begin to hurt India.
“The team from India has also urged that this deadline should be pushed back (from September this year) to mid-2025. It has also pointed out the inconvenience, involving logistics, time and cost, that the industry would face if Belgium is node for routing diamond imports,” a person familiar with the discussion told ET. “We believe the EU is examining the proposal,” he said.
Since eight out of 10 stones are cut and polished here, India, it’s argued, already has a ready infrastructure for 3D scanning and profiling of rough diamonds which should be used. In the natural diamond industry, before the roughs are sold to diamantaires, the assorting and mixing of the stones sourced from mines across the world – an exercise that was once done in London – now happens in Botswana.
“DeBeers has mines in different countries. Does it make sense for a stone to move from a mine in Namibia to Belgium for certification before travelling back to Botswana? This can impact the global industry alignment. Instead, the entire process, in a different way, can happen in an alternative node like India which has hundreds of scanners and expert manpower. It can be a less disruptive solution,” said a trader.
The Indian industry is spearheaded by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) which has formulated the counter-proposal to the idea of making Belgium as the single node.
Indeed, according to a GJEPC release, De Beers has advocated a 12-month extension to push back the full implementation of forthcoming sanctions to September 2025.
“Make no mistake. India is not against the sanctions. What it is suggesting is a logistically simpler and less troublesome process to screen roughs coming from Russia,” said another person.
According to the G7 and EU scheme of things, Belgium (besides Canada which would certify stones mined there) would be the main node for issuance of a traceability based G7 certification for diamonds of 0.5 carat (and above) flowing into European, and probably other, markets. This would be backed by a blockchain-based G7 ledger that customs departments would be able to access to figure out where a rough originated. India feels it’s eminently possible to put in place a different mechanism, where the scanned rough stone data is stored on cloud for reference and testing.
Indians, predominantly the Palanpuri jains from Gujarat, may have further consolidated their position in the trade. According to the trade magazine ‘Diamond World’, the recent elections at the key co-ordinating body Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), saw five out of six newly elected board members hail from India. “In a competitive process, the board positions were divided into three distinct categories based on sales volumes. In the category representing companies with sales exceeding 100 million Euros, Ravi Bhansali, MD of Rosy Blue NV, and Isi Morsel from Dali Diamonds emerged victorious. Meanwhile, in the category encompassing companies with sales below 30 million Euros, Chirag Shah of Yashvi Diamonds and Samit Mehta of Snehdiam were elected. In the category ranging between 30 to 100 million Euros, Prakash Patel of Veediam and Hitesh Kakadiya of Sheetal Europe secured their seats,” said the report.
Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/fashion-/-cosmetics-/-jewellery/make-india-key-node-to-verify-origin-of-diamonds-indian-officials-tell-eu/articleshow/111147527.cms
(ICE MUMBAI)
ESPORTAZIONI DI OROLOGI CALANO ANCORA A MAGGIO
(ICE) – ROMA, 20 GIU – Nel mese di maggio i produttori svizzeri di orologi hanno nuovamente esportato meno all’estero. Sebbene gli ordini dagli Stati Uniti, il più grande mercato di vendita, si siano mantenuti pressoché invariati, le esportazioni verso la Cina si sono indebolite.
L’export di orologi svizzeri è diminuito del 2,2% rispetto allo stesso periodo dell’anno precedente, raggiungendo i 2,29 miliardi di franchi a maggio, hanno indicato oggi l’Ufficio federale della dogana e della sicurezza dei confini (UDSC) e la Federazione dell’industria orologiera svizzera (FH).
La tendenza osservata nei primi quattro mesi dell’anno è quindi proseguita, ha spiegato la FH in merito ai dati di maggio. Dopo cinque mesi, le esportazioni erano quindi inferiori del 2,5% rispetto al livello record dell’anno precedente.
L’inizio del 2024 è stato contrastato per il settore: le esportazioni si sono ridotte del 16% a marzo e di poco meno del 4% a febbraio. A gennaio (+3%) e ad aprile (+4,5%), invece, l’export di orologi “Made in Switzerland” è leggermente aumentato.
Gli orologi in acciaio, in calo del 7,6%, hanno penalizzato il risultato complessivo, mentre i prodotti in “altri metalli” hanno registrato una crescita del 9,9% e quelli in metalli preziosi dell’1,6%
Nel mese di maggio, la domanda stabile di orologi svizzeri negli Stati Uniti è stata sostenuta in particolare dagli affari di Rolex, Omega e Co. In quello che è di gran lunga il più grande mercato di vendita per l’industria, le esportazioni sono diminuite di appena lo 0,5%, raggiungendo i 359,2 milioni di franchi .
Le vendite sono aumentate anche in altri grandi mercati come il Giappone (+5,8%) e la Francia (+18%).
(ICE BERNA)
IMPORT CURBS ON CERTAIN TYPES OF STUDDED GOLD JEWELLERY NOT APPLICABLE FOR SEZ
UNITS: DGFT
(ICE) – ROMA, 20 GIU – The government has clarified that its decision to impose import curbs on certain types of studded gold jewellery is not applicable for units in the special economic zones (SEZs). On June 11, the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) through a notification imposed the restrictions to discourage inbound shipments of these items from countries like Indonesia and Tanzania.
“It is clarified that imports made by SEZ units (other than free trade warehousing zones)…are outside the purview of this notification,” the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) has said in a policy circular.
The DGFT has said that it has received representations from SEZ units highlighting the issues faced by them due to this notification.
Goods under restricted category need a licence/permission from the government.
SEZs are key export hubs which contributed over one-third of the country’s total outbound shipments in the last fiscal. These are enclosures that are treated as foreign territories for trade and customs duties, with restrictions on duty-free sales outside these zones in the domestic market.
Exports from these zones rose by over 4 per cent to USD 163.69 billion in 2023-24.
As many as 423 such zones have been approved by the government, out of which 280 are operational as of March 31 this year. As many as 5,711 units are approved in these zones till December 31, 2023.
Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/fashion-/-cosmetics-/-jewellery/import-curbs-on-certain-types-of-studded-gold-jewellery-not-applicable-for-sez-units-dgft/articleshow/111131505.cms
(ICE MUMBAI)
ITALIA: UNA FILIALE DI CHRISTIAN DIOR POSTA SOTTO AMMINISTRAZIONE GIUDIZIARIA PER LAVORO FORZATO
(ICE) – ROMA, 19 GIU – Italia: una filiale di Christian Dior posta sotto amministrazione giudiziaria per lavoro forzato
Il 10 giugno scorso il tribunale di Milano ha posto sotto amministrazione giudiziaria un’azienda di proprietà della filiale italiana del gruppo di moda francese Christian Dior per aver subappaltato la sua produzione a società cinesi accusate di lavoro forzato. Secondo un documento giudiziario visionato da Reuters, il tribunale di Milano ha posto la Manufacturers Dior Srl in amministrazione controllata per un periodo di un anno perché l’azienda non avrebbe applicato “misure adeguate per verificare le effettive condizioni di lavoro o le capacità tecniche delle imprese appaltatrici”. Il tribunale di Milano aveva adottato misure simili contro altre due case di moda, il Gruppo Armani ad aprile e un’azienda italiana di borse l’anno scorso
e aggiungila