Press Center- Each shipment of rough diamonds crossing an international border must be:
- Transported in a tamper-resistant container
- Accompanied by a government-validated Kimberley Process Certificate
- Each certificate must be resistant to forgery, uniquely numbered and describe the shipment's contents
- The shipment can only be exported to another Kimberley Process participant country
- It is illegal for uncertified shipments of rough diamonds to either be imported or exported by a Kimberley Process participant country
- Failure to comply with these procedures can lead to confiscation or rejection of parcels and/or criminal sanctions
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme18 started when Southern African diamond-producing countries met in Kimberley, South Africa, in May 2000, to discuss ways to stop the trade in ‘conflict diamonds’ and ensure that diamond purchases were not funding wars against legitimate governments rebel movements.
In July 2000, the global diamond industry made clear to the international community its zero tolerance policy towards conflict diamonds. Dedicated to eradicating the trade in conflict diamonds, it worked closely with the United Nations, governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to create the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. This system was formally adopted in 2003 and guards against conflict diamonds entering the legitimate diamond supply chain. The diamond industry also adopted a voluntary System of Warranties to assure consumers that their diamonds are from sources free of conflict.
Under the Kimberley Process, rough diamond shipments can only be exported and imported between co-participant countries in the Kimberley Process. No uncertified shipments of rough diamonds will be permitted to enter or leave a participant's country. This ring-fences conflict diamonds and as such ensures they are unable to enter the legitimate diamond supply chain and therefore, cannot be used to fund wars against legitimate governments.
The Kimberley Process (KP) is open to all countries that are willing and able to implement its requirements. As of November 2008, the KP has 49 members, representing 75 countries, with the European Community and its Member States counting as one participant. KP members account for approximately 99.8% of the global production of rough diamonds.
The rough diamond-trading entity of Chinese Taipei has also recently met the minimum requirements of the KPCS. Lately, Venezuela has voluntarily suspended exports and imports of rough diamonds until further notice and Côte d'Ivoire is currently under UN sanctions and cannot trade in rough diamonds.
Kimberley Process participants undergo periodic reviews, along with peer monitoring to ensure compliance. Furthermore, all rough diamond sales are independently audited, and are also subject to separate governmental regulations. Any country that is found not to be in compliance can be sanctioned by the Kimberley Process.
In addition to the Kimberley Process, the System of Warranties was developed by the World Diamond Council (WDC) to extend the Kimberley Process conflict free assurance to polished diamonds and provide a means by which consumers can be assured their diamonds are from conflict free sources.
Under this system, which has been endorsed by all Kimberley Process participants, all buyers and sellers of both rough and polished diamonds must make the following affirmative statement on all invoices:
"The diamonds herein invoiced have been purchased from legitimate sources not involved in funding conflict and in compliance with United Nations Resolutions. The undersigned hereby guarantees that these diamonds are conflict free, based on personal knowledge and/or written guarantees provided by the supplier of these diamonds."
All members of the trade who provide such assurances should keep records for a minimum of 5 years of both their customer warranties and their System of Warranties statements from their suppliers. This flow of warranties in and out must be audited and reconciled annually by the company's own auditors. If asked for by a duly authorized government agency, these records must be able to prove that the supplier is in compliance with the Kimberley Process.
Failure to abide by the aforementioned requirements exposes the member to expulsion from industry organisations. Under the terms of the Kimberley Process, it will be considered a violation to issue a warranty declaration on a sales invoice unless it can be supported by warranty invoices received for purchases. Failure to adhere to these requirements will prompt investigation and could result in expulsion from the various diamond industry institutions.
In South Africa, there is a further requirement for each company to submit to the local diamond authorities a rough diamond register at the end of each month. The register records the purchase and sale of rough diamonds by every licensed diamond company in South Africa. These registers are verified through a system of brokers’ notes. It is signed by both buyer and seller as an official recording of a transaction.
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) entered its 7th year in operation in 2009 under Namibian Chairmanship. The other constituents of the Kimberley Process, civil society organisations and the diamond industry represented by the World Diamond Council, are observers in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
CONFLICT DIAMONDS
Only one country – Côte d’Ivoire – remains sanctioned by the United Nations, and, according to the UN definition of “conflict diamonds”, it is actually the only country with conflict diamonds.
During a joint visit of the UN Group of Experts and the KP Working Group of Diamond Experts (WGDE) to the mining sites in northern Côte d’Ivoire, a steep increase in production was identified. Equally worrying were observations that artisanal mining was no longer restricted to alluvial deposits, but was also tapping into richer kimberlite sources in the Séguéla region.
West African Participants have been urged to exercise increased vigilance to prevent Côte d’Ivoire diamonds from contaminating the legitimate diamond trade. An important tool is being developed to identify the diamond production “footprint” of each West African production area so that exports can be checked. Observed statistical anomalies can then be compared with the footprint of diamonds from Côte d’Ivoire. Statistical anomalies have already been identified in Ghana and Guinea, and both situations have been remedied through increased vigilance by the relevant KP authority including transmitting digital photographs of all export shipments to WGDE-experts.
Marange
Although Zimbabwe diamonds do not figure on any UN-diamond ban as “conflict diamonds”, the reported atrocities perpetrated by police and armed forces since 2008 in the Marange diamond fields have dominated and continue to dominate discussions within the Kimberley Process.
The situation in the Marange diamond field has been investigated by a KPCS review mission team.
At the Swakopmund Plenary Meeting (November 2009) Zimbabwe escaped possible suspension (or even expulsion) by a hair and agreed to a stringent action plan. The resulting Joint Working Plan concluded with the Monitoring Working Group (WGM) halted all exports of diamonds from Marange until cleared by a KP Monitor.
The appointed KP Monitor, M. Abbey Chikane, the first Chair of the Kimberley Process, has been tasked to assist the industrial mining companies active in Chiadzwa (part of the Marange diamond field) in becoming KPCS compliant and certify compliant productions for export. Although the KP Monitor had not signed off on any export certificates (as of April 2010), the UAE KP Authority signalled several imports of Marange diamonds accompanied by authentic Zimbabwe KP certificates. This apparent breach of one of the keystones of the Joint Working Plan was explained by the Zimbabwe Government that they had interpreted the JWP not to include pre-Swakopmund stocks.
From the above it is obvious that the Marange issue will not simply “go away” and will remain high on the agenda of the Kimberley Process. After all, this is not just any alluvial diamond deposit in some backwater that may just be a tiny speck in the total world production. On the contrary, all geological indications point to a potential world class deposit that could well represent a third or more of today’s world diamond production.
FINANCIAL CRISIS
Not surprisingly, the KPCS’ dedicated statistics website paints a grim picture of 2009 as a year when diamond production plummeted and diamond related government revenue almost completely evaporated, especially in West-Africa. The fear that the crisis might have driven part of the well-regulated legitimate diamond trade underground was found to be untrue as no indications of increased smuggling have been observed. The early signs of recovery are beginning to show in the collected data of Q4-2009 and Q1-2010.
2010 AND THE FUTURE OF THE KIMBERLEY PROCESS
2010 will be a very important year for the Kimberley Process. Undeniably, the KPCS has been successful in addressing the “conflict diamonds” issue. However, there are questions being raised about whether the KPCS’s role and remit need to evolve. This is one of the great tasks that Israel, as new Chair of the Kimberley Process, will have to address.
We operate in strict compliance with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and the World Diamond Council System of Warranties. We are committed to contributing to sustainable economic development in Africa by sourcing diamonds through legitimate channels and contributing to the Diamond Empowerment Fund.