Background
Conflict diamonds came to the attention of the world media during the extremely brutal conflict in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. The UN, governments, the diamond industry and non-governmental organizations (such as Global Witness, Amnesty International and Partnership Africa Canada), recognized the need for a global system to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate diamond supply chain and thus helping to fund conflict.
They developed an agreement called the Kimberley Process, which requires participating governments to ensure that each shipment of rough diamonds be exported/imported in a secure container, accompanied by a uniquely numbered, government-validated certificate stating that the diamonds are from sources free of conflict.
Under the Kimberley Process, diamond shipments can only be exported and imported within 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 thus, cannot be used for illegitimate purposes.
In November 2002, 52 governments ratified and adopted the Kimberley Process Certification System, which was fully implemented in August of 2003. Today, 74 governments, in partnership with the diamond industry and NGOs, are committed and legally bound to the UN-mandated process. Kimberley Process participants currently account for well over 99% of the global production of 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.
The Kimberley Process (KP) aims to stem the flow of conflict diamonds – rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments. The trade in these illicit stones has fuelled decades of devastating conflicts in countries such as Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone.
How does the Kimberley Process work?
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) imposes extensive requirements on its members to enable them to certify shipments of rough diamonds as ‘conflict-free’ and prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate trade. Under the terms of the KPCS, participating states must meet ‘minimum requirements’ and must put in place national legislation and institutions; export, import and internal controls; and also commit to transparency and the exchange of statistical data. Participants can only legally trade with other participants who have also met the minimum requirements of the scheme, and international shipments of rough diamonds must be accompanied by a KP certificate guaranteeing that they are conflict-free.
The Kimberley Process is chaired, on a rotating basis, by participating countries. So far, South Africa, Canada, Russia, Botswana, the European Community have chaired the KP, and India is the Chair in 2008. KP participating countries and industry and civil society observers gather twice a year at intersessional and plenary meetings, as well as in working groups and committees that meet on a regular basis. Implementation is monitored through ‘review visits’ and annual reports as well as by regular exchange and analysis of statistical data.
The Kimberley Process: unique and effective
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) has evolved into an effective mechanism for stemming the trade in conflict diamonds and is recognized as a unique conflict-prevention instrument to promote peace and security. The joint efforts of governments, industry leaders and civil society representatives have enabled the Kimberley Process (KP) to curb successfully the flow of conflict diamonds in a very short period of time. Diamond experts estimate that conflict diamonds now represent a fraction of one percent of the international trade in diamonds, compared to estimates of up to 15% in the 1990s. That has been the KP’s most remarkable contribution to a peaceful world, which should be measured not in terms of carats, but by the effects on people’s lives.
The KP has done more than just stem the flow of conflict diamonds, it has also helped stabilise fragile countries and supported their development. As the KP has made life harder for criminals, it has brought large volumes of diamonds onto the legal market that would not otherwise have made it there. This has increased the revenues of poor governments, and helped them to address their countries’ development challenges. For instance, some $125 million worth of diamonds were legally exported from Sierra Leone in 2006, compared to almost none at the end of the 1990s.
In 2006, a review of the KP confirmed its effectiveness, and recommended a number of actions to further strengthen the system in areas such as monitoring of implementation and strengthening internal controls in participating countries, as well as greater transparency in the gathering of statistical data.
ENSURING A CONFLICT FREE DIAMOND INDUSTRY
| | MINING After rough diamonds are mined, they are transported to Government Diamond Offices. |
| | EXPORT (KIMBERLEY PROCESS): After arriving at the Government Diamond Offices, the source of the diamonds is checked to ensure it is conflict free. The diamonds are then sealed and placed into tamper resistant containers and issued a government-validated Kimberley Process Certificate, each bearing a unique serial number. There are 74 countries that have implemented the principles of the Kimberley Process and have it enshrined in their national law. Only these countries may legitimately export rough diamonds. |
| | IMPORT (KIMBERLEY PROCESS): Diamonds can only legally be imported into one of the 74 Kimberley process countries. Once diamonds are imported, the government customs office, in conformance with its national procedures, checks the certificate and seals on the container. Any rough diamonds without a government-validated Kimberley Certificate or that are unsealed are turned back or impounded by Customs. |
THE GLOBAL DIAMOND TRADE
When a person in the West buys a diamond, they risk unwittingly supporting atrocities in one of three African countries: Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The number of "conflict diamonds" which find their way onto the fingers in New York, London, Paris and Rome is an ongoing debate between the industry and the human rights campaigners. The former say it is 4 percent of the total market, some of the latter maintain it could be as high as 10 percent. Rings make up 79 percent of diamond jewellery sales worldwide, although the major market is the USA.
The world diamond jewellery retail market was worth US $56 billion in 1999 and the figure is on a "continuous growth curve" according to Global Witness the campaigning group funded by the UN department for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Most of the illicit diamonds from Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo end up in either Antwerp in Belgium or Tel Aviv in Israel where they are traded.
Many rough diamonds then move on to be cut and polished at 30 countries worldwide but dominated by India with approximately 50 percent of the world trade, but Thailand, Mauritius and the U.S. also have diamond cutting companies.
The top diamond jewellery consumer market is the U.S. where in 1998, 33 million pieces of diamond jewellery were sold at an average price of US$655 per item, worth US$22 billion. London also has an important diamond trading market based in Hatton Garden.
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