Brazzaville suspended from list of Kimberley Process for diamond traceability

The Republic of Congo (ROC) has been suspended from the list of country participants in the diamond-traceability initiative, known as the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). In a statement, the chairman of the Kimberley Process, Tim Martin of Canada, said the ROC had been suspended on 9 July following a report submitted by a review mission sent to the ROC from 31 May to 4 June. The mission was headed by Abbey Chikane of South Africa, the former chairman of the Kimberley Process, who was accompanied by experts representing Canada, Israel, the World Diamond Council and the Ottawa-based NGO Partnership Africa-Canada. "The findings of the review mission are clear. The Republic of Congo cannot account for the origin of large quantities of rough diamonds that it is officially exporting," Martin said. According to the statement, the ROC authorities were unable to account for a massive discrepancy between the scale of rough diamond exports and the absence of any reported production or imports. The review also found that the ROC did not have adequate procedures to ensure that Kimberley Process certificates were being issued only for rough diamonds produced in the country. The KPCS was launched on 1 January 2003 by African diamond-producing countries to develop an international certification scheme for rough diamonds, in order to prevent conflict diamonds from entering legitimate markets. Under the scheme, the participants are required to export rough diamonds in tamper-resistant containers, and to provide certificates validating that their diamond exports are conflict-free. The ROC mines and energy ministry issued a statement on Monday disputing the findings of the review mission, maintaining that the country had respected the terms of the Kimberley Process.