Rough diamond traders meet a deadline today

Time for the transitioning of revised System of Warranties 

The World Diamond Council (WDC)’s calls out to industry members to seize the moment and be ready in time, to meet the deadline for rough diamond sales. The WDC’s revised System of Warranties (SoW) is set to reach its first critical deadline today, on September 21, 2024, as the three-year grace period to convert to the new system for rough diamond sales is about to end. 

See below a selection of FAQs aimed at helping your company to reach the deadline with ease. 

1) The System of Warranties: It’s a global mechanism created by the WDC for the industry, so that companies relay to the next buyer in the supply chain that the goods they are trading are in compliance with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) and the SoW Guidelines, hence passing down the warranty of a conflict-free origin, as well as the assurance of adherence to other responsible business principles such as human rights, labor rights, anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF). 

2)  The revised SoW Warranty Statement: Follow this 3-step process, a) You must register on the dedicated WDC System of Warranties website. b) You must successfully complete an online self-assessment questionnaire. 

C) You can then add the new warranty statement to your invoices and memo templates and display the unique identification number that you will have received upon successful submission of the self-assessment. 3) The revised SoW help business: It helps you review your own responsible practices and build your own capacity around them. By displaying your unique ID SoW number on your invoices and memos, you send a clear signal of compliance to your counterparts; hence pushing them to do the same as well. It shows your commitment to a more responsible industry. 

4)  The SoW’s relevancy to SMEs: The self-assessment of the SoW is customized to fit any company, whatever the segment(s) of the diamond and jewelry value chain you are involved in, the size of your company, or whether you are already compliant with other recognized industry standards (RJC/De Beers Group BBPs). 

“We strongly urge all companies, but especially at this very moment rough diamond traders, to transition to the revised SoW, if they have not done so yet, to be ready for the September 21 deadline,” said Elodie Daguzan, WDC Executive Director. “Registration is remarkable easy. 

There is a full toolkit available as well as a SoW Coordinator who operates a hotline for anyone requiring support. By abiding to the SoW, diamond companies demonstrate leadership, upholding the baseline of industry self-regulation at a time where due diligence practices have never been so important.”