Canadian diamond stakeholders are committed to ensure that diamonds represented as Canadian can be authenticated to protect themselves against deceptive practices that may erode consumer confidence and at the same time ensure compliance with the Competition Act.
The Voluntary Code of Conduct for Authenticating Canadian Diamond Claims (“the Code”) stems from the Competition Bureau's Enforcement Policy on the Marketing of Canadian Diamonds in respect of when diamonds can be represented as “Canadian”without violating the false or misleading claims provisions of the Competition Act . It takes into account the Enforcement Guidelines relating to “Product of Canada” and “Made in Canada” Claims published by the Bureau.
The Code evolved from the collaborative efforts of a broad cross section of the industry including the diamond mining sector, cutters and polishers, retailers, the Canadian Jewellers Association and Jewellers Vigilance Canada as well as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other government stakeholders. This Code establishes a minimum standard required to validate a Canadian Diamond claim based on a paper trail and a chain of warranties, which was found to be the most appropriate system to validate claims on the origin of Canadian diamonds.
The full text of the Code 2019 Revision can be seen in PDF format