U.S. Customs Guidance on Russian Diamond Import Ban
Executive Order 14068 “Taking Additional Steps with Respect to the Russian Federation’s Harmful Activities” – Guidance on Non-industrial Diamonds and Diamond Jewelry and Unsorted Diamonds.
Beginning on the effective date of March 1, 2024, all entry and certified from summary transactions as well as goods admitted into a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) that include the affected commodities as outlined below will require a self-certification statement to be uploaded to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Document Image System (DIS).
Background
On December 6, 2023, the G7 Leaders announced a coordinated international effort to impose phased restrictions on the importation of certain Russian diamonds, including diamonds processed in third countries. On December 22, 2023, President Biden issued Executive Order (EO) 14114, “Taking Additional Steps with Respect to the Russian Federation’s Harmful Activities.”
The E.O. amends E.O. 14068 issued on March 11, 2022. E.O. 14068 originally prohibited the importation of the following products of Russian Federation origin: non-industrial diamonds, fish, seafood, and preparations thereof, and alcoholic beverages.
E.O. 14114 amends E.O. 14068 by addressing situations where Russian origin diamonds as well as fish, seafood, and preparations thereof, underwent substantial transformation outside of the Russian Federation. The E.O. prohibits importation of these products if they were mined, extracted, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Russian Federation regardless of whether such products have been incorporated or substantially transformed into another product with a country of origin that is not the Russian Federation.
On February 8, 2024, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued two determinations, “Prohibitions Related to Imports of Certain Categories of Diamonds” pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14068 and “Prohibitions Related to Imports of Diamond Jewelry and Unsorted Diamonds of Russian Federation Origin and Diamond Jewelry and Unsorted Diamonds Exported from the Russian Federation” pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14068. The determinations can be found at (https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20240208).
Filing Requirements
Beginning on the effective date of March 1, 2024, all entry and certified from summary transactions as well as goods admitted into a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) that include the affected commodities will require a self-certification statement to be uploaded to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Document Image System (DIS).
The trade community must follow these requirements to submit the self-certification statement to DIS:
- CBP as the Agency Code;
- Other as the Official Document Name/Description;
- Other as the Document Type;
- Other as the Document Label Code;
- CBP03 as the DocCode.
The self-certification must meet the following criteria:
- Be provided on official company letterhead in PDF format.
- Contain the statement:
For non-industrial diamonds with a weight of 1.0 carat or greater, effective March 1, 2024:
“I certify that the non-industrial diamonds in this shipment were not mined, extracted, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Russian Federation, notwithstanding whether such diamonds have been substantially transformed into other products outside of the Russian Federation.”
For diamond jewelry and unsorted diamonds, effective March 1, 2024:
“I certify that the diamond jewelry and unsorted diamonds in this shipment are not of Russian Federation origin or were not exported from the Russian Federation.”
Only one self-certification document will be required per Entry, Entry Summary or FTZ admission.
CBP will be issuing additional filing requirements under the EO once the necessary ACE enhancements are deployed. These requirements will be communicated via subsequent CSMS message.
Source: U.S. Customs