State Dept., Customs Officials to Provide KPCS, Clean Diamond Act Guidance at JCK

New York City: Sue Saarnio, special advisor for conflict diamonds at the U.S. State Department and Vincent Dantone, program manager for trade policy enforcement programs at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, will be available to provide legal compliance information to rough diamond importers and exporters about the Kimberley Process (KPCS) and the Clean Diamond Trade Act at the JCK Las Vegas Show.

Under U.S. law, all rough diamond shippers are required to use U.S. Kimberley Process certificates when importing or exporting rough diamonds. Importers and exporters also must send copies of Kimberley Process certificates to the U.S. Census Bureau's toll-free fax line at 1-800-457-7328 and maintain records of all rough diamond shipments for five years. Importers also are required to send confirmation of receipt to foreign exporting authorities, among other requirements.

Saarnio and Dantone will be based at the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) booth, L-13, Sands Expo & Convention Center, Sunday, June 1 and Monday, June 2.

For information about the Kimberley Process and Clean Diamond Trade Act, visit: www.state.gov/e/eeb/diamonds or http://www.kimberleyprocess.com/.