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Anton Germanovich Siluanov, Russia’s finance minister, addressing the closing session of the 2021 Kimberley Process Plenary in Moscow on November 12, 2021. Photo courtesy of Kimberley Process.

ANNUAL GATHERING OF KIMBERLEY PROCESS WRAPS UP
WITH LITTLE PROGRESS MADE ON KEY AREA OF CONTENTION

 

The Kimberley Process Plenary meeting, the key event on the annual calendar of the multinational forum charged with eliminating the trade in conflict diamonds, wrapped up on November its 2021 gathering in Moscow, the capital of the Russian Federation, whose government is the outgoing KP Chair.

While the five days of discussion had been intensive, the event is unlikely to be remembered as a meeting in which the participants finally got to grips with the challenges that have confronted it for more than a decade – and more specifically the definition of “conflict diamonds” to include instances of violence outside the context of civil war.

While 116 delegates had been present at the Moscow meeting, a further 390 connected via Zoom, an inevitable consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, the facts that meeting took place this year were considered an accomplishment. The mid-year gathering of the KP, called the Intersessional, had taken place in an all-virtual format.

Russia, in fact, had been scheduled to end its term in office at the end of 2020, handing over to its Vice Chair, the Republic of Botswana. But earlier last year, with the KP’s activities severely hampered by the fast-spreading coronavirus, the organization had declared 2020 as a zero year, meaning that all high-level activities were put on hold until the following January. The effect was that Russia’s leadership was extended for another year, and Botswana will assume the role of KP Chair in January 2022.

But the issue of the conflict diamonds definition is not a new one for the KP, which was found in 2000 when a number of civil wars were raging in Africa and rough diamonds were using by rebel groups to finance their campaigns. Within several years, however, most of those conflict – in Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia and the DRC – had died down, but human rights violations in the artisanal mining regions were still being widely reported.

A number of mainly Western countries, joined by the industry representative, the World Diamond Council (WDC) and the Civil Society Coalition, called for the conflict diamonds definition to be expanded to include gross acts of systemic violence carried out by other parties, like mining company security forces, local law enforcement or criminal elements, but the moves have failed to get the consensus support required, according to KP rules.

A working group in session at the 2021 Kimberley Process Plenary. Photo courtesy of the Kimberley Process.

OPTIMISTIC ASESSMENT OF PLENARY RESULTS

While no resolution to the issue was achieved, WDC President Edward Asscher provided a relatively optimistic assessment at the what was achieved at the 2021 KP Plenary meeting. He said he was encouraged by the KP’s constructive discussions and its welcoming of a Declaration on Supporting Principles for Responsible Diamond Sourcing as Best Practices.

Asscher was referring to a document drawn up Russia and Botswana over that outlines seven basic principles of responsible sourcing, and references a range of issues not included in the current conflict diamonds definition, like human rights.

“This is a positive step that further highlights the important role of the KP in stemming the flow of conflict diamonds,” the WDC President said. 

While the WDC would have preferred that the KP make concrete decision about the expansion of the conflict diamond definition, Mr. Asscher said “we always seek to support journeys of continuous improvement, and so we will continue to push for progress.” He added that the WDC will place the conflict diamond definition as a priority item, when the KP begins its next Review Cycle.

INDUSTRY GOING IT ALONE

While the diamond industry, through the WDC, continues to encourage the KP to make the progress that is necessary both to protect the security and wellbeing of all individuals working and living in diamond producing regions, and to satisfy consumer confidence, it has selected to wait governments to reach agreement, but rather move ahead on its own, introducing its revised System of Warranties, the WDC President said. This was done formally on September 21 of this this year.

First developed by the WDC in 2002, as an industry self-regulation system that would indicate that diamonds being sold comply with the minimum requirements of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), which was scheduled to be launched at the beginning of 2003. It requires professional buyers and sellers of rough diamonds, polished diamonds and jewelry set with diamonds to include a warranty statement on B2B invoices and memos each time a diamond changes hands, assuring the next buyer that it originated from sources in compliance with the KPCS, confirming the conflict-free origin of the merchandise.

The Botswana delegation at the 2021 Kimberley Process Plenary. The country will take over the KP Chair from Russia at the start of 2022. Photo courtesy of the Kimberley Process.

Like the original version, the revised SoW requires that all buyers and sellers of rough diamonds, polished diamonds and jewelry containing diamonds include a statement that the goods being sold are in compliance with the KPCS. It additionally includes a commitment that the buyers and sellers adhere to the WDC SoW Guidelines. These expressly support universally accepted principles of human and labor rights, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering (AML).

“This holistic approach is imperative for all of us in the business of selling diamonds, because who today wants to buy a pair of sneakers, a t-shirt, coffee beans or chocolate – let alone emotionally symbolic jewelry – if there is any doubt about the conditions in which its components were sourced and the impacts they had on society,” Mr. Asscher stated.

 

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