International Industry Cooperation
In response to a global request for a positive contribution to the sustainable development by various stakeholders, the global rough and polished diamond industry is consistently increasing joint efforts to promote responsible business practices. The industry takes comprehensive measures to protect its reputation, develop international regulatory mechanisms and the industry selfregulation system, maintain the consumer value of diamond jewellery and strengthen consumer confidence at the multilateral level and in cooperation with leading countries and national organizations of the global rough and polished diamond industry.
Kimberley Process and World Diamond Council
Kimberley Process and World Diamond Council
The Kimberley Process (KP) is a permanent intergovernmental forum aimed at preventing conflict diamonds from entering the international trade. The Kimberley Process includes 56 participants representing 82 States (EU countries represented as a single participant) and 4 observers, including the World Diamond Council, representing the global diamond industry, and the Civil Society Coalition, an association of non-governmental organizations.
ALROSA participates in the KP as part of the delegation of the World Diamond Council (WDC), a single representative of the industry as an observer. In 2021, ALROSA provided expert support to the Russian delegation to the KP, where Russia acted as the chair. ALROSA has always been a member of the WDC board of directors and key committees since the establishment of the organization in 2000. ALROSA acted as a leader in reforming WDC System of Warranties, which, as an industry self-regulation system, expands the KP Certification Scheme to include not only export and import operations with rough diamonds, but also the internal domestic trade, covering all segments of rough and polished diamond industry from production to sale. New WDC System of Warranties, supplemented by the Guidelines, provides not only for a guarantee of a "conflict-free" origin of diamond products in the form of a declaration in shipping documents, but also implies compliance with universal standards in the field of human and labor rights, anti-money laundering and anti-corruption activities
In 2021, a new online self-assessment tool was launched to check the compliance with the Guidelines of the revised System of Warranties. This important element of improving industry self-regulation that takes into account the size of business, segment of activity and sources of raw materials, is designed to provide the rough and polished diamond industry participants with detailed guidance on compliance with the requirements of the System of Warranties, as well as provide samples required for the adoption and compliance with policies.
Responsible Jewellery Council
Responsible Jewellery Council
The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) is an international non-profit organization created to certify participants who comply with its responsible business standards. RJC consists of more than 1200 companies covering the entire jewellery supply chain from mining to retail sales. The RJC Certification System provides an opportunity for companies to demonstrate their commitment to ethical standards and responsible business practices.
ALROSA joined RJC in 2016 becoming a member of the Board of Directors in 2017. Following the results of the independent audit in December 2017, ALROSA received a certificate of compliance with the RJC Code of Practices for three years. In 2020, ALROSA was one of the first in the world to successfully undergo recertification according to the updated Code of Practices confirming its commitment to responsible business. ALROSA (ZIMBABWE) Limited confirmed its compliance with the Code of Practices, becoming the first RJC-certified company in the history of Zimbabwe. The audit also covered JSC PC Kristall merged with ALROSA Group in 2019.
To align corporate standards with the provision of new RJC Code of Practices, ALROSA adopted the Regulations on Responsible Diamond Supply Chain Management in line with the OECD Guidelines and approved by the organization's experts.
Natural Diamond Council
Natural Diamond Council
The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) is an association of diamond producers that supports the attractiveness of natural rough/polished diamonds and their promotion and protects the reputation of producers of natural diamond jewellery. As the only industry organization that directly interacts with the consumer through its consumer brand “Only Natural Diamonds”, NDC is also the most respected and competent publisher of innovative digital content aimed at inspiring, educating and supporting consumers, promoting values and historical heritage associated with natural polished diamonds, as well as sharing information about important innovations in the world of polished diamond jewellery.
Since its foundation in 2015, ALROSA, along with other participating companies, has made a significant contribution to NDC financing helping increase efforts to promote generic marketing programs for natural polished diamonds in the USA and gradually cover the markets of India and China. In 2020, ALROSA actively participated in the total transformation of the NDC polished diamond generic marketing campaign in line with modern trends accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
ALROSA also supported programs aimed at promoting the natural origin of gems and the reputation of the diamond industry. In particular, NDC member companies developed a common approach to the organization's contribution to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, providing three "pillars" for the industry sustainable development based on nine UN SDGs of top priority for NDC. Moreover, to support industry-wide efforts to separate natural diamond and synthetic diamond markets, ALROSA updated the ALROSA ALLIANCE Guidelines on Responsible Business Practices with provisions for regulatory and physical separation of relevant operations.