The World Diamond Council (WDC), representing the international diamond
industry and trade, welcomes the Interlaken Declaration reached
on the 5th November in Interlaken,
Switzerland, as the culmination
of two years' unprecedented cooperation between
governments, industry and civil
society in the Kimberley Process to
end the trade in "conflict
diamonds' and thus help to
prevent the deaths and suffering of innocent people.
Ministers of
the 50 participating nations endorsed intergovernmental measures - as mandated
by the United Nations General Assembly - to introduce the Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme for the trade in rough diamonds. The WDC affirms the
industry's undertaking to implement simultaneously the self-regulation contained in the Scheme.
At the World Diamond Congress held in London on the 29th
October, the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and the International Diamond
Manufacturers' Association passed unanimously a Resolution that created the
voluntary system of industry self-regulation to support the government
undertakings of the Kimberley Process.
To underpin the System of Warranties set up by the Resolution,
individual members of the international diamond industry and trade will instruct
their independent auditors to verify that records of warranties are being
created and maintained, in the normal course of business, in compliance with the
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. This. certification will be
subject to government verification.
The WDC calls on the governments, of participating nations to
implement the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme without delay on the 1st
January 2003. The international diamond industry acknowledges the determination
of the international community and the dedication of civil society in
establishing - in partnership with industry - mechanisms to eradicate the trade
in 'conflict diamonds'.