A meeting of BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors in Moscow on October 9th hosted an informal dialogue platform on cooperation in the diamond industry, held with assistance from the African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA).

During the meeting, diamond industry representatives and regulators from the BRICS countries and members of leading international industry organizations discussed potential ways to promote a regular dialogue to ensure sustainable development of the diamond trade.

“Following the meeting, participants agreed on four main aspects of the dialogue platform: creating added value in supply chains; supporting generic diamond marketing programs in the BRICS markets; ensuring uniform standards for responsible diamond mining and trade; sharing best practices,” the press service of the Russian Ministry of Finance reported.

During a separate session, representatives of the BRICS countries also discussed the feasibility of creating uniform quality standards and rules for trading precious stones and metals in the BRICS markets.

“The launch of a dialogue platform on diamonds in the BRICS+ format with the participation of African diamond-mining countries will help strengthen trade and business ties between our countries, create new forms of cooperation and develop a unified position of all segments of the diamond pipeline – from mining to retail – in the common interests of the stable development of the industry.

“It is important to emphasize that our cooperation is based on the principles of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme as the only universal mechanism for regulating the global trade in rough diamonds,” said Alexey Moiseyev, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation.

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