The System of Warranties (SoW) was introduced in 2002 by the World Diamond Council (WDC) on behalf of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) as an industry self-regulatory system that would mean that diamonds sold would meet the minimum requirements of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), which was due to be introduced in early 2003.

 

Unlike the KPCS, the SoW covers not only the trade in rough diamonds, but also the trade in cut diamonds and diamond-set jewellery and is intended to apply to any change of ownership of diamonds and not just their export from one country to another.

 

In essence, the SoW required buyers and sellers of rough diamonds, cut diamonds and diamond-set jewellery to issue a warranty statement on B2B invoices every time the diamonds changed hands to assure the subsequent buyer that the diamonds had come from products that met the KPCS requirements.

 

Although a voluntary system of practice, implementation of the SoW has been called for by several international industry associations, including WFDB, IDMA, the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), as outlined in its Code of Conduct, and CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, in its Blue Responsible Sourcing Book. In addition, implementation of the SoW is a prescribed practice in the responsible trading codes of leading diamond and jewellery trade organisations, including the De Beers Principles of Good Practice, the ALROSA Alliance Guidelines on Responsible Business Practices, and the Signet Jewellers Responsible Sourcing Protocol for Diamonds.

 

In June 2018, the WDC Board of Directors approved a revised SoW that aims to strengthen and expand the scope of the original system and promote its use and implementation in the diamond and jewellery sectors.

 

Like the original version, it requires all buyers and sellers of rough diamonds, polished diamonds and diamond-containing jewellery to include a declaration on the B2B invoice that the goods sold are compliant with the KPCS. It now also includes a commitment that buyers and sellers comply with the WDC guidelines, which support generally accepted principles of human and labour rights, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering (AML).

The System of Warranty statement

SoW WARRANTY STATEMENTS

Industry members who include the updated SoW Statement on an invoice or note must conduct special due diligence, which begins with registering on a dedicated SoW website and completing a self-assessment to determine whether they are compliant with the principles set forth in the WDC SoW Guidelines. . Only members recognized as compliant may issue the revised SoW Statement of Warranty.

The self-assessment questionnaire is customized and takes into account the stage(s) of the diamond and jewellery value chain in which the business operator is involved, the size of the business and whether it is already compliant with other recognised due diligence systems.

 

The self-assessment must be completed annually to be eligible to issue revised SoW assurance statements.

 

Of course, we also respect, enforce and are responsible for the SoW guidelines.

 

The Ajediam Diamonds™ SoW assurance statement.