HRD Antwerp completes internal review

HRD Antwerp has announced that an internal quality control review of its laboratory is complete and its board has received the respective results. Also, the HRD Board has confirmed the remedial actions taken by management, and will pass the entire dossier to judicial authorities for further examination on possible legal infringements.

The HRD Antwerp board declared that the review concluded on a positive note. “We have been able to localize the causes and sources of the grading improprieties and have found that it solely involves only a few individuals and companies. HRD Antwerp has proven it has the skills and the corporate will to investigate its own possible breaches of the rules and that it can take effective actions to prevent recurrence and to reassure the market of the total integrity of its HRD Antwerp brand,” says HRD Antwerp’s General Manager Georges Brys.

Three diamond firms have been asked to clear their account at HRD Antwerp.

“As HRD Antwerp’s own investigation was fully focused on its internal quality controls and staff adherence to the strict grading rules, the HRD Antwerp board unanimously felt that all the findings of the internal investigations should be passed on to the appropriate authorities. All staff members have received unequivocal instructions to fully cooperate”, added Brys.

The boards of the AWDC and HRD Antwerp had appointed an ad-hoc Committee comprising of prominent industry leaders and academics to guide the internal review. Also, a specialized firm was engaged to perform an independent forensic audit in the HRD Antwerp diamond lab.

Georges Brys believes that the swift reaction of HRD Antwerp has strengthened the organization and its brand image. “Our policy for absolutely zero tolerance to any possible irregularity remains firmly rooted in our culture. And this is based on the adherence of the management and staff to the strict ISO and other internal rules. We can now go back to business as usual – strengthened and more determined to give our stakeholders the highest quality product which will instill trust and confidence in every diamond transaction which carries our HRD Antwerp certificate.”