Progress at “blood diamond” meeting

Representatives of 34 nations and diamond industry executives said on Thursday that they had agreed on the main principles of a certification scheme to end the trade in so-called “blood diamonds” which helped finance wars, Reuters reported. South Africa, the world’s biggest producer of uncut diamonds, chaired the meeting in the Russian capital. Russia itself produces 25 percent of the world’s total diamonds. “Blood diamonds”, or “conflict diamonds”, are believed to account for less then four percent of the world’s US $7 billion trade in uncut stones, but continue to rake in enough money to keep wars going in countries such as Angola, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the report said. Officials said the Moscow meeting had made progress in defining minimum acceptable standards for an international certification system aimed at helping track sales and exports of diamonds, and at stopping trade in stones from countries at war. “The final result is that there is an agreement that we will put in place a regulatory system in the world to ensure that all conflict diamonds are removed,” Nchakha Moloi, a special adviser for South Africa’s Minerals and Energy Ministry, told a news conference. Ivan Ivanov, Russian deputy foreign minister and co-chairman of the conference, was quoted saying that participants had agreed on the main principles of a certification system. They included a proposal for government agencies to be responsible for confirming the legitimacy of diamonds and for producers to be required to give guarantees to their governments. Ivanov said the basic elements of the system - which has come to be know as the Kimberly Process - would be elaborated further ahead of the next meeting in London from 11-13 September