CBP Proposes Kimberley Process Amendments for Rough Diamond Imports/Exports
CBP sought comments on a proposed amendment to its regulations that would add recordkeeping requirements to U.S. exports of rough diamonds and include additional information on requirements for rough diamond import and export. CBP is proposing to require any U.S. persons exporting from the U.S. a shipment of rough diamonds to retain a copy of the Kimberley Process Certificate accompanying each shipment for at least five years from the date of export and make the copy available for examination at the request of CBP, the agency said in a notice in the Federal Register Aug. 15. Comments on the proposals are due Oct. 15.
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CBP is also proposing to include in its regulations the requirements of diamond importing/exporting contained in the Treasury Department's Rough Diamonds Control Regulations (RDCR) (31 CFR part 592). Because CBP (along with ICE, OFAC, and the U.S. Department of State) is involved in the administration and enforcement of the import and export requirements relating to rough diamonds, CBP believes that it is appropriate and in the interests of the trading community to restate in the CBP regulations certain of the entry, export, and recordkeeping requirements included in the RDCR, it said in the notice.
New Section 12.152
The requirements will be added to 19 CFR part 12 in new Section 12.152 to explicitly incorporate recordkeeping requirements that are implicitly included in the RDCR, said CBP. Because any person importing a shipment of rough diamonds is required to have the original Certificate at the time of import (per 31 CFR 592.301), CBP is proposing to amend the regulations to clarify that the Kimberley Process Certificate, which accompanies each shipment, is an entry record that must be maintained for at least five years from the date of importation. Accordingly, the importer must make a copy of the Kimberley Process Certificate available for examination at the request of CBP during that time period.
The proposed amendment will also require customs brokers, importers, and filers making entry of a shipment of rough diamond to either submit through CBP’s Automated Broker Interface (ABI) system the unique identifying number of the Kimberley Process Certificate accompanying the shipment or, for non-ABI entries, indicate the certificate number on the CBP Form 7501, Entry Summary, on each applicable line item, according to the notice.
(The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was launched in 2003 to break the link between the sale of rough diamonds and armed conflict. It is a certification-of-origin system in which governments from 76 diamond-producing and -processing countries work together with the diamond industry and civil society to eliminate the trade in conflict diamonds.)