Swiss Diamond Imports Soar
Uncut diamonds are pouring into Switzerland from South Africa due to fears of trade sanctions by Britain against South Africa’s apartheid policies, customs authorities and traders said Thursday.
In the first six months of 1988, Swiss customs authorities said, the value of imported uncut diamonds soared to $149 million, compared with the $119- million worth in 1987.
And 1987’s figures were nearly 100 times that of the value of diamonds--$1.07 million--that entered Switzerland in 1986 from South Africa’s DeBeers mines, which control the world diamond trade.
Britain reported a corresponding drop of $109 million in diamond imports from South Africa in 1987.
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