Kimberley Process encounters rocky road

Lobby groups on Wednesday said the failure of governments to agree to an independent monitoring system to prevent potential abuses of the Kimberley agreement on conflict diamonds could undermine the credibility of the scheme.

While international efforts to stem the trade in illicit gems were welcomed, ActionAid spokeswoman, Bethan Brookes, said the NGO was disappointed that no action was taken on establishing a regular, effective monitoring mechanism to assess national diamond control systems.

This week governments, industry and NGOs met in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the first plenary meeting of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) to assess progress on halting the trade in the illegal diamonds that continue to help fuel some of the most intractable wars in Africa.

"Although there was progress on some key issues, the implementing of a regular system of independent monitoring remains integral to ensuring the integrity of the Kimberley Process. Without such a system the credibility of the scheme will be called into question," Brookes told IRIN.

Under the KPCS, participants are required to use standardised, tamper-proof packaging and an official Kimberley certificate when transferring rough diamonds.

Exporting countries that fail to respect the deal would be prevented from selling diamonds and could face international sanctions.

The scheme was launched on 1 January 2003, but since the start of the process in 2000, NGOs have argued that while the system would help to stem the trade in illicit diamonds, it would be weakened by the failure to develop strong verification and monitoring measures.

"Government representatives at the meeting said that the Kimberley document, as it stands, makes no provision for an independent monitoring mechanism, but NGOs have argued that the document is an evolving document and that this is a learning experience for everyone," Brookes explained.

She added that agreement was reached on conducting spot checks, and governments had agreed to make available reports of diamond production and sales. "But this does not take away from the need for a regular independent audit."

Consensus was also reached on the scheme's first review mission, which would be to the Central African Republic to evaluate whether the KPCS could be implemented effectively after the recent unconstitutional change of government.

"We still remain concerned, however, that many of the countries who had attended many of the meetings of the Kimberley Process have failed to put in place laws and regulations to implement the scheme. This means that in some places illegal diamonds continue to fuel conflict and rights abuses," Brookes stated.

Discussion of the implementation of a credible monitoring system has been postponed to the next plenary, scheduled for October 2003.