The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, (MCAFPD) on November 19, 2024, issued a notification regarding Consumer Protection in the Diamond Sector.
The CCPA conducted a stakeholder consultation, to address challenges in the diamond sector, including the lack of standardized terminology and inadequate disclosure practices. Key issues discussed included consumer confusion caused by unclear differentiation between natural and lab-grown diamonds.
Legal frameworks such as the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and BIS Standard IS 15766:2007 were highlighted, mandating the carat as the standard diamond unit and requiring lab-grown diamonds to be explicitly labelled as "synthetic" without being graded alongside natural diamonds. The Consumer Protection Act, of 2019, and a recent CBIC Circular (21/2024) further emphasized the need for transparent labelling, requiring details about diamond origin and production methods, such as CVD or HPHT.
The consultation proposed comprehensive guidelines to ensure ethical marketing, mandatory labelling of diamond origins, and regulation of diamond testing laboratories. The CCPA will soon introduce a robust framework to enhance transparency and consumer protection in the diamond industry.
[Notification No. 2074564]
