Diamond High Council reaches break-through decision for a structural solution

Antwerp, 27 June 2000 — The Diamond High Council (HRD) has concluded co-operative agreements with Angola and Sierra Leone to tighten the control of export as well as import of diamonds. Any party that is found in violation of the embargo shall immediately be expelled from the sector, with all relevant information immediately passed on to the judicial authorities. Angola and Sierra Leone are invited to dispatch experts to Antwerp to identify prohibited diamonds that are mixed in with legitimate shipments.

At the start of 2000, the Diamond High Council drafted a Strategic Plan outlining a structural solution to provide for transparency in African diamond trade from areas of conflict.

The Plan provides for measures that are applicable both in importing and exporting countries.

• to tighten the control in the importing countries, a certificate of origin is required, delivered by the authorised government agency of the export country. Only shipments accompanied by this certificate shall be considered for further transactions.
• to counter forgeries, this certificate needs to display a proper watermark and other legitimising identifications. An additional control is provided by the certificate of confirmation of import. This certificate shall be sealed together with the shipment and upon arrival stamped by the Belgian customs officials to be returned to the country of export. Through these measures, complete transparency is achieved for commercial transactions between the two countries.
• The exporting nations need to establish a centralised export agency that shall be responsible for each and every shipment of diamonds, based on the model of the Belgian Diamond Office. In this manner, a tighter control on export is achieved and the local authority receives a total overview on the trade. The necessary know-how, software, sealing systems, and training are made available by the HRD services.

The Plan is offered to all African countries that are having to cope with the problem of conflict diamonds. It was first presented during the Technical Forum of African Nations gathered on May 11 and 12 in Kimberley to discuss the problem.

On 30 March 2000, during a meeting in Antwerp, an agreement in principle on the measure was reached between the HRD and Angola, represented by the Vice-Minister of Geology and Mining SUMBULA. This agreement was thereupon expanded into a Protocol that was subsequently approved in Luanda by the Angolan President DOS SANTOS and is thus currently sanctioned for official implementation.

On 7 April 2000, discussions were started with Sierra Leone, represented by Ambassador KUYEMBEH. On 9 June 2000, the HRD received an invitation from the Sierra Leone government to concretise the collaboration. A HRD delegation visited Freetown on 19, 20, 21 June for discussions with President KABBAH and the Minister of Mineral Affairs DEEN. The HRD hopes to be able to conclude the discussions during the coming days and extends its full support to the government of Sierra Leone in its efforts to deny the rebels access to the country’s natural resources.

The HRD will impose immediate sanctions on any party that deals in prohibited conflict diamonds in order to expel them from the diamond community.

The HRD calls upon De Beers, NGO’s and the UN to transmit all information on eventual violations on the embargo by individual merchants. The HRD shall pass on to the judicial authorities all such information that is brought to its attention. In February, the HRD signed an agreement with the Office of the Public Prosecutor of Antwerp in order to counter the infiltration of organised crime into the diamond sector.

The HRD has invited the governments of Angola and Sierra Leone to send experts that will be able to lend assistance in the identification of individual diamonds from the countries concerned that are mixed in with commercial assortments shipped to Antwerp via a third country.

A similar initiative shall be undertaken with the governments of the Congo and Liberia in order to counteract transit of diamonds via third countries.

The HRD is convinced that only strict combined measures in the areas of export and import will put an end to the illegal trade practices.

The HRD points out that an embargo can only offer a solution to the problem if simultaneous structural measures are adopted for a long-term solution that provides for the revenues from natural resources, gathered by legitimate governments, to be invested on behalf of the general wealth.

Already, the initiatives undertaken by the HRD have paid dividends. Because of the additional control systems and the re-organisation of the internal market in Angola, the trade in illegal diamonds has been brought under control. The HRD’s anticipatory stance versus Sierra Leone has contributed to the fact that the import from that country has ceased nearly completely. Where in 1998, diamond imports from Sierra Leone into Antwerp counted for 0.5 % of the total, the 1999 figure was reduced to 0.1 %. In 2000, that share will be reduced to 0.025 %. Neighbouring countries such as Liberia are following the same trend and are experiencing a significant drop in their diamond trade with Antwerp.