ROCK 'n' GEM

Link for information on conflict diamonds

CONFLICT DIAMONDS AND THE KIMBERLEY PROCESS

GENERAL BACKGROUND

Introduction

1. The Kimberley Process (KP) involves some 45 governments (including the European Community as one member), representatives from the worldwide industry and over 100 NGOs, including Global Witness, Amnesty International and Oxfam. It began as a negotiation six years ago at the behest of the southern African producer countries, with strong support from the UK, the US and Belgium. Its objective was to respond to the threat posed by conflict diamonds i.e. rough diamonds being used by rebel forces to fuel conflict; Angola, DRC and Sierra Leone being cases in point. Global Witness first highlighted the threat.

How It Works

2. The KP developed a working document setting out the provisions of a trade restriction for rough diamonds. The document was adopted at the plenary session in Interlaken on 5 November 2002. The full text can be found at the website:www.kimberleyprocess.com. A KP certificate, attesting that the stones came from legitimate sources, accompanies all exports of rough diamonds. No rough diamonds should be imported without a KP certificate. The KP Certificate is issued by individual countries, but shares a common format (the EU has one common certificate for all its Member States). Certificates are forgery-resistant and carry information on the contents, including the origin or provenance, name of exporter and importer, carat weight and the value.

3. Once rough diamonds enter a country, their movement is traceable through a system of warranties, set up and run by the industry (see www.worlddiamondcouncil.com for details of the warranty scheme). Independent auditors of the individual rough diamond trading companies underpin the system through verification. The industry has its own internal penalties. Governments have access to industry's books if and when necessary and have imposed their own penalties for dealing in diamonds not handled in accordance with KP procedures. These are separate from existing penalties for dealing in diamonds covered by UN sanctions (currently covering Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire only).

4. The international scheme will be monitored by members reporting on their own implementation of the scheme in advance of plenary meetings. Periodic monitoring missions to member states by their peers in the Process will also be key. A voluntary peer review system was agreed by participants at the Sun City plenary in October 2003. To date 25 countries and the EC have volunteered to receive review visits. A further 14 have indicated their intention to volunteer soon. This system is in addition to so-called challenge inspections, already part of the KP scheme and designed to allay concerns over specific implementation problems in individual countries. The first KP challenge inspection took place in June 2003, in the Central African Republic, following the coup d'etat earlier that year. A second mission, to the Republic of Congo to investigate allegations of endemic, systematic smuggling, took place in August 2004.

5. Statistics (using a common format and analysed by an independent body) will be used to identify anomalies in diamond flows. Participants submit import and export figures on a quarterly basis and production figures on a six-monthly basis.

How It Works in the UK

6. The UK implementation system is centred on a Government Diamond Office (GDO) a small team of two officers operating out of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The GDO is responsible for authorising exports of diamonds by issuing the KP certificate. It monitors imports and will issue confirmation of safe receipt to exporting authorities. It liases with industry, and collates the necessary statistical data, prepares the KP reports and represents the UK at KP plenary meetings. It is the co-ordination point between all government departments who have an interest in the implementation of the scheme (FCO, DTI, HM Customs and Excise, the Home Office and police forces). Customs and Excise will retain its current responsibility and powers relating to import and (final) export controls.

Working With Industry

7. Close contact with industry is key to successful implementation. The World Diamond Council, set up by industry to represent its views at the Kimberley Process, is an important interlocutor. But it does not represent all UK diamond companies. We have therefore reached out to these firms separately, through organisations such as the London Diamond Bourse, the British Jewellers Association, the National Guild of Goldsmiths, or direct and by word of mouth.

Contact Information

8. For more information, please contact the Government Diamond Office on 020 7008 6903, or e-mail gdo@gtnet.gov.uk