Census Bureau Proposes to Amend Regulations on Trade in Rough Diamonds

The Census Bureau proposed to amend the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR) to instruct entities on how to transmit certain information related to Kimberley Process certificates to the U.S. government, Census said. The Kimberley Process is an international certification arrangement applying to the rough diamond trade. Census proposes to clarify that the certificates must be provided to Census immediately after export from the U.S., and that certificates for all rough diamonds classified under HS subheadings 7102.10, 7102.21 and 7102.31 must be provided to the agency immediately after entry of shipments into the U.S. The proposed rule would also add a note that Kimberley Process certificates aren’t confidential under U.S. Code Title 13 regulations, which cover Census. The agency is also proposing to add provisions saying that parties voiding the certificates must transmit notices of such voids to a specific Census fax number or by “other methods as permitted by the Census Bureau immediately upon voiding.” Census is accepting comments on the proposed rule through Nov. 28.