Bush says goodbye rubies

[Gregory Diamond]

From National Jeweler Online
By Teresa Novellino

Washington, D.C.—President Bush has signed off on legislation that makes it illegal for rubies and jadeite from Myanmar, including stones that were processed in third-party countries, to be imported into the United States.

The "Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act of 2008," was signed by Bush on Tuesday and is to take effect 60 days later.

The act is designed to diminish a funding source for Myanmar's ruling military junta, which profits from state-run gemstone auctions but has a long history of human rights violations. After the government's bloody crackdown against the nation's protesting Buddhist monks last year, Myanmar stones were dubbed "blood rubies" in the press.

The act includes an import ban on gemstones that were mined in Myanmar and were processed or otherwise underwent "substantial transformation," such as treatments, in third-party countries such as Thailand. This extra restriction closes a U.S. Customs loophole that was allowing the Myanmar-originating stones into this country, despite the fact that federal law has banned them since 2003.

"Burmese rubies," as the stones are known in the trade, make up an estimated 90 percent of the world's rubies, and top-quality stones from the nation are highly coveted for a color that's often described as "pigeon-blood red."

The bill does not prevent U.S. sales of jadeite or rubies from Myanmar that are already in the United States, according to a press release issued on Wednesday by the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC). And that's a point that gemstone dealers want to make clear to retail jewelers: Any Burmese rubies that are currently in the country are perfectly legal to buy and sell.

"I have enough goods to last awhile," says William Hakimi, of A. Hakimi and Sons in New York, a major U.S. ruby dealer who displayed a wide selection of top-shelf Burmese stones at the JA New York Summer Show. "What is going to happen is that (rubies) are gong to become more rare and the prices are going to go up."

The importation ban also does not apply to Burmese jadeite or rubies that are imported for personal use, and it does not apply to any exports of Burmese rubies or jadeite from the United States, the release said. It also does not apply to stones that were in the country before the ban and then exported so long as they are re-imported by the same person and have not been improved in condition or value outside the United States.

According to the JVC, U.S. Customs is still determining whether or not the exemption would apply to cut and polished rubies that are exported from the United States, placed into finished jewelry and then re-imported.

Hakimi and other dealers point out that rubies are available from other sources, notably Madagascar, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Thailand.

According to the JVC, non-Burmese rough and polished jadeite and rubies (or jewelry containing jadeite and rubies) may be imported from other countries, but only under certain conditions.

"These imports require the President to 'determine and certify' to the appropriate legislative committees and government agencies that those countries have implemented verifiable controls from mine to first exportation that demonstrate that the jadeite and ruby does not originate in Burma," the JVC release says. "These non-Burmese imports must be accompanied by officially validated documentation certifying the country from which the jadeite and rubies were mined or extracted, total carat weight and value of the jadeite or rubies."

Any companies that mine, export or import non-Burmese jadeite and rubies are required to maintain verifiable records demonstrating compliance with these requirements, according to the JVC.

JVC's web site, JVCLegal.org, will include an overview of the Act, the full Act as well as answers to frequently asked questions.