Kimberley Process’ Mandate Will Not be Expanded

Edward Asscher, president of the World Diamond Council, said yesterday at the Intersessional Meeting of the Kimberley Process that the Kimberley Process’ mandate “should remain focused on eliminating the trade in diamonds from areas of conflict.”

He said in a speech:

We are being asked whether we contribute to further improving the lives of those involved in and dependent upon our industry? In other words, should KP’s mandate be expanded beyond preventing the infiltration of conflict diamonds into the legitimate pipeline, to include other issues which challenge the integrity of our products and the reputation of our business?

However, he concluded:

The Kimberley Process’s scope should remain limited to disassociating conflict from the rough diamond trade. Our focus should be on improving Kimberley Process within this framework.

How should we do this? Through our working committees and revie processes, we should look to improve our procedures and documentation, so that any existing weak links and blind spots are eliminated. As mentioned before, we should revisit the subject of expanding the definition of conflict diamonds, and seek to achieve consensus. And most important, we should do all that we can to assist countries experiencing critical problems, by contributing to their healing processes and assisting in their sustainable development. We should also work for a level playing field. With that I mean that all diamond producing countries, all diamond centers, all government agencies use the same procedures, accuracy and policies.

Click here to read the full speech.