GJEPC urges strict rules to differentiate Lab-Grown and natural diamonds

GJEPC says India should adopt the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines, which say there must be a "clear and conspicuous" indication that a diamond is man-made

By TBT Web Desk On Oct 18, 2024

gjepc urges rules for lab-grown and natural diamonds, the blunt times

Surat : With many lab-grown diamond jewellery brands in India marketing their products with the tagline ‘diamond jewellery’ in India, the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has urged the Department of Consumer Affairs, government of India for implementing strict rules to differentiate between natural and lab grown diamonds.

GJEPC has urged the Government of India to adopt the US guidelines to distinguish lab growns from natural diamonds. The 10,000-member GJEPC says there is widespread confusion in the way diamonds are marketed and advertised.

It says India should adopt the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines, which say there must be a “clear and conspicuous” indication that a diamond is man-made.They also say the term “diamond” without qualification can only be used to refer to a natural, mined diamond. And lab growns cannot be described as “real,” “genuine,” “natural,” or “precious” without additional qualifying language.

“The absence of standardised guidelines on diamond terminology leads to ambiguity,” it says. “And there are no mandatory disclosure requirements to indicate whether a diamond is lab-grown or natural to the consumer.”

According to a report published by the Rapaport Group, the advent of strong synthetic-diamond competition has resulted in the natural diamond industry losing approximately 50% of global diamond demand. From 2022 to the end of 2024, De Beers revenue is expected to be down by 50%, India net polished exports down by 49%, and US net polished imports of diamonds over 0.50 carats down 55%

Rapaport stated that four fundamental forces are impacting the natural diamond markets: China’s decline, India’s prosperity, synthetic, competition, and demographics. These forces are interacting in ways that create unprecedented disruption, uncertainty and opportunity.

India’s promotion of synthetics has led to the collapse of its natural diamond exports. And Botswana’s added-value beneficiation and sourcecertification programs will encourage more manufacturing of higher-quality diamonds outside of India. The good news from India is that it has become the secondlargest diamond consumer market. Unfortunately non-Indian companies cannot compete in the Indian market due to their high import taxes, Rapaport stated.