MUMBAI: The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) in India has adopted new standards for diamonds in line with US Federal Trade Commission guidelines. The updated definition specifies that a "diamond" must be a natural stone mined from the earth. As lab-grown gems become more prevalent, this change has significant implications. Presently, both natural and lab-grown diamonds are often sold without distinction. GJEPC is urging the Indian government to amend the Consumer Protection Act to align with the new definition of "diamond" as a natural stone. The aim is to protect consumers who assume that a "diamond" is natural, despite the current lack of explicit legal safeguards. GJEPC is working to establish clear guidelines to prevent lab-grown diamonds from being misrepresented as natural, advocating for education within the Indian trade to ensure fairness and compliance. Chairman Vipul Shah emphasized the importance of ensuring stakeholders at all levels of the trade value chain are equipped to guide and counsel consumers, enhancing consumer confidence. Terms such as real, genuine, natural, and precious are not suitable for describing lab-grown diamonds. Instead, the term "cultured" should be used, along with qualifiers such as laboratory-created or laboratory-grown, as determined by the FTC. While the use of "synthetic" for lab-grown diamonds is not recommended, it is not prohibited under FTC guidelines.