Mumbai: Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has informed all diamantaires that the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Government of India, has issued a notification granting duty exemption on cut & polished diamonds that are imported for the purposes of ‘grading or certification and re-export out of India’ to three laboratories operating within the country.

The three labs are Gemological Institute of America (Mumbai), Indian Diamond Institute (IDI, Surat) and the International Institute of Diamond Grading and Research India (IIDGR, Surat).

The notification has specified the various procedures to be followed by these labs for each parcel of diamonds imported if they wish to avail of the exemption, including allotting of a ‘unque control number’ to each batch, detailed descriptions of the imported diamonds including dimensions, weight, colour, caratage, approximate value etc., submission of a quarterly statement covering all import and re-export parcels to be prepared before the 25th of the month following the end of the quarter, etc.

The authorities have also specified that the diamonds should be re-exported within three months and only from the port through which the import took place.