OWN CORRESPONDENT, London | Wednesday 11.50am.
MINING giant De Beers on Wednesday called for a coordinated international response to stop trade in so-called ”conflict diamonds” which are funding rebel armies in Africa.
In a letter to industry leaders ahead of next month’s World Diamond Congress in Antwerp, De Beers Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer and Managing Director Gary Ralfe said the diamond industry should expel those people found trading in conflict stones.
Diamonds from territories controlled by rebel forces in Sierra Leone, Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo account for only 4% of world production but they are highly prized for their quality.
De Beers and many others in the industry are concerned that the association between gems and bloody conflicts in Africa could taint the image of diamonds as the ultimate luxury product.
De Beers, which controls 60% to 70% of the world market in rough, or uncut, diamonds, has since March guaranteed all stones sold through its London-based Central Selling Organisation as being ”conflict-free”.
The company — writing to the World Federation of Diamond Bourse, the International Diamond Manufacturers Association and others — set out a six-point action plan which it said will help prevent diamonds from conflict areas reaching the legitimate market: – the introduction of standard documentation by importing countries requiring a true statement of origin of all stones, rather than a declaration of provenance; – new laws to empower import control offices to refuse entry to wrongly declared stones; – the supply of run-of-mine samples from each diamond producing country to allow testing of the origin of uncut stones; – banks serving the industry to require customers declare they will not deal in conflict stones; – an exchange of staff between producing countries and cutting centres to harmonise paperwork; – mandatory publication of national official annual rough diamond import and export statistics. — Reuters