The EU and the Kimberley Process (conflict diamonds)

 What is the Kimberley Process?

The Kimberley Process is a unique initiative by government authorities, the international diamond industry and NGOs to stem the flow of so called ‘blood diamonds’ – rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments. These have contributed to fuelling devastating conflicts in a number of countries in Africa.

The Kimberley Process began in May 2000 in Kimberley (South Africa) as interested governments, NGOs and industry groups sought to come up with a practical way to prevent illicit diamonds from entering the legitimate diamond trade. As a result, the ‘Kimberley Process Certification Scheme’ (KPCS) was designed and entered into force in 2003, with the support of the United Nations and the WTO. The KPCS imposes extensive requirements on traders, such as trade controls and certificates of origin, a ban on trade with non-member countries, transparency and release of statistics on diamond production and trade. The KPCS now represents 75 countries, including all major diamond producing, trading and processing countries. Consumers can therefore be confident that their purchases of diamonds are not fuelling violent conflict.

The Role of the EU in the Kimberley Process

The EU is a major diamond trading centre and participated in the creation of the KPCS and actively contributes to its implementation. The EU also chairs the Kimberley Process Working Group on Monitoring which oversees implementation of KPCS requirements. The EU has taken over the Chair of the Kimberley Process in 2007 and successfully implemented its Action Programme that contributed to enhance the effectiveness of the KPCS (See Final Communiqué of the Bruxelles Plenary meeting ).

Implementation of the KPCS in the EU

Within the EC, the KPCS is implemented by a Council Regulation , adopted on 20 December 2002. The Regulation lays down the procedures and criteria to be followed in the import and export of rough diamonds into and from the EC, and creates a uniform EC Kimberley Process certificate, which is used for all shipments. The Regulation also provides for EU Member States which wish to do so to designate ‘Community authorities’ which can then carry out the import and export procedures foreseen under the KPCS. The Regulation further sets out provisions for self-regulation by the diamond industry in the EC.