THE KIMBERLEY PROCESS AT RISK 1

The Kimberley Process has helped in combating the trade in

conflict diamonds, also known as blood diamonds, but

serious weaknesses remain. The United Nations has recently

reported that a significant volume of blood diamonds from

Cote d’Ivoire is entering the legitimate trade. Despite this,

political will is waning. Governments are blocking efforts to

strengthen the Kimberley Process and the diamond industry

has failed to police itself.The Kimberley Process’ objective to

stop the trade in blood diamonds will not be met unless

these challenges are confronted effectively. The millions of

lives lost and widespread devastation from diamond-fuelled

civil wars demands that the international community and

the diamond industry make this process work so that

diamonds never again fuel conflict.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (Kimberley

Process) is an international governmental certification

scheme that was set up to prevent the trade in diamonds

that fund conflict. Launched in January 2003, the scheme

requires governments to certify that shipments of rough

diamonds are free from blood diamonds. Countries that

participate must pass legislation to enforce the Kimberley

Process.They must also set up control systems for the import

and export of rough diamonds. Participants are only allowed

to trade rough diamonds with other participants. The aim is

to prevent blood diamonds from entering the Kimberley

Process system.

November 2006

The Kimberley Process was negotiated by governments, civil

society organisations and the diamond trade in response to

civil society campaigning against the trade in diamonds that

fund and fuel conflicts. Since its conception the Kimberley

Process has heralded a new approach to regulating the

natural resource trade, setting an important precedent for

subsequent global initiatives, such as the Extractive

Industries Transparency Initiative. The Kimberley Process is a

political agreement and currently 71 countries participate:

In 1998, Global Witness began a campaign to expose the

role of diamonds in funding conflict, as part of broader

research into the link between natural resources and

conflict. Growing international pressure from Global

Witness and other NGOs demanded that governments and

the diamond trade take action to eliminate the trade in

blood diamonds. In response, in May 2000, the major

diamond trading and producing countries, representatives of

the diamond industry, and NGOs met in Kimberley, South

Africa to determine how to tackle the blood diamond

problem. The meeting, hosted by the South African

government, was the start of an important and often

contentious three-year negotiating process to establish an

international diamond certification scheme.

A key motivation for some countries and the diamond

industry to take part in this process was the recognition that

the blood diamond issue could seriously damage the

diamond industry’s integrity and undermine consumer

THE KIMBERLEY PROCESS AT RISK 2

confidence if not addressed. African producing countries

were particularly concerned about consumer perceptions of

African diamonds and how this could affect their ability to

compete with diamonds from Russia, Canada and other

countries. They wanted to ensure that consumers could buy

diamonds originating in any country and be confident that

they were conflict-free.

Over the next three years, the Kimberley Process was

formed. In November 2002 it was endorsed by participating

governments, the diamond industry and NGOs and was

finally launched in January 2003. The Kimberley Process was

endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)

and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

The Kimberley Process participants (governments) and

observers (the diamond industry, NGOs) meet once a year

to discuss the implementation of the scheme. Working

groups monitor participants’ implementation of the

scheme, assess applications to join, gather and analyze

statistics, and discuss technical issues. Global Witness,

Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), and other NGOs have had

an unusual level of involvement in developing and building

support for the scheme, helping to write the Kimberley

Process Technical Document, and playing an active role in

In 2006 participants in the Kimberley Process are

undertaking a formal three year review to assess its

effectiveness and make recommendations to strengthen it

so that it achieves its aim of eliminating blood diamonds.

This review presents a crucial opportunity to close the

loopholes in the Kimberley Process and make sure it is

credible and effective in practice. Unfortunately, key

governments taking part in this review have been unwilling

to take strong and much-needed actions to strengthen the

Kimberley Process and respond to the situation in Cote

d’Ivoire and in other countries with weak controls.

Despite the Kimberley Process, blood diamonds still exist

and are entering the legitimate trade. Although the scheme

makes it more difficult for diamonds from rebel held areas

to reach international markets, there are still significant

weaknesses in the scheme that undermine its effectiveness

and allow the trade in blood diamonds to continue.

A United Nations Group of Experts on Cote d’Ivoire has

recently found that poor controls are allowing significant

volumes of blood diamonds to enter the legitimate trade

through Ghana, where they are being certified as conflictfree,

and through Mali. As well as pointing to the need for

stronger diamond controls in the region, the Group of

Experts recommends that international trading centres

introduce better systems for identifying suspicious

shipments of rough diamonds. Many other diamond

producing countries have weak government diamond

controls that cannot guarantee the diamonds they export

In the DRC since the peace agreements signed in 2002,

fighting between the national army and various rebel groups

has continued in parts of the country, particularly in the

east. Some of this fighting has centred around diamond

mines and other areas rich in natural resources.

Weaknesses in the Kimberley Process are found across the

diamond pipeline, including in countries with trading,

cutting and polishing centres. A recent United States

Government Accountability Office (GAO) report shows that

blood diamonds may be entering the US because of major

weaknesses in the implementation of the Clean Diamond

Trade Act, the US law which implements the Kimberley

Kimberley Process participants meet to discuss the implementation of the

scheme.Waning political support from governments has meant that there

has been more talk than action at recent meetings.

©GlobalWitness

THE KIMBERLEY PROCESS AT RISK 3

Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). According to the GAO

report, “the United Nations (UN) and other sources report

that illicit trading of rough diamonds still exists and could

potentially finance civil conflicts as well as criminal and

terrorist activities.” The GAO report further concludes: “To

succeed, KPCS depends on all participants having strong

control systems and procedures for collecting and sharing

trade data on rough diamonds, for inspecting imports and

exports of these diamonds, and for tracking confirmations of

There is still a flourishing illicit trade in diamonds globally.

They are a high value commodity that are easily smuggled

and Kimberley Process controls have not been able to stop

this. For instance in Sierra Leone Kimberley Process experts

problem to the Kimberley Process because any kind of illicit

trade exposes gaps in the system that unscrupulous

diamond traders can use to trade in blood diamonds. In

addition, the illicit trade has been shown to fund terrorism

and aid money-laundering activities. Many illicit traders are

known, but the industry is still largely secretive and

unwilling to tackle the problem by working more proactively

with law enforcement agencies. The diamond industry has

failed to honour its commitments to support the Kimberley

Process by not policing itself effectively while governments

have failed to step up to the line and hold the industry

accountable for this.

The Kimberley Process must be strengthened significantly.

Global Witness is calling for the Kimberley Process to be

effectively implemented in all participants’ territories. The

Kimberley Process must require that participants have

strong diamond control systems in place that are fully

implemented. This must include adequate checks to make

sure the diamond companies are complying with the

scheme. The diamond industry must also deliver on its

commitments and operate in a more accountable and

transparent manner.

The Kimberley Process is increasingly being hailed as a

success and the problem of blood diamonds is perceived to

be solved by some.This is leading to complacency and a lack

of political will to improve the scheme.

The following actions must be taken by the Kimberley

Process governments if this agreement is to be effective and

credible in stopping the trade in blood diamonds.

The Kimberley Process should require a set of specific

controls to be implemented in every participant’s territory.

Currently, there are no baseline standards that all

participants control systems must meet. Controls over the

trade in diamonds in every country should underpin the

Kimberley Process and ensure traceability from mine to

export. Although on paper a participant’s diamond control

systems may look strong, all too often the enforcement is

hollow. As a result, many participants’ controls over their

diamond sector are weak or poorly enforced, creating gaps

that blood diamonds can infiltrate. Many countries do not

even carry out adequate checks to ensure that the industry

is complying with Kimberley Process requirements and there

has not been a systematic evaluation of how governments

are monitoring the industry.

A set of controls specific to participants (artisanal diamond

producing, trading, and cutting and polishing countries)

should be required. These should outline required elements

for participants’ systems of control, including verification of

industry compliance.

As the industry has failed to police itself effectively, the

Kimberley Process must step in and require the industry to

set up auditable systems to tackle blood diamonds at all

points across the diamond pipeline. Controls and oversight,

Government controls and industry oversight must be strengthened in

countries with alluvial diamond mines.

©Global Witness

THE KIMBERLEY PROCESS AT RISK 4

both by government authorities and the industry, must be

robust and effectively enforced all along the diamond

pipeline. This includes physical inspections of imports and

exports to make sure that packages are in compliance with

the Kimberley Process as well as random sampling of

companies trading in rough diamonds to verify that they are

in compliance with the Kimberley Process.

To have most impact on preventing the trade in blood

diamonds, government monitoring and verification of

industry compliance with the Kimberley Process must

explicitly be made a minimum requirement of the scheme.

The peer monitoring system should evaluate how a country

is monitoring and verifying industry compliance as an

integral part of its reviews.

To increase the transparency and openness of the Kimberley

Process, the scheme should publish detailed statistical data

on diamond production and trade which has been compiled

since 2003 and so far not made public. Statistical data is an

important way to detect anomalies in the diamond trade that

could indicate blood diamond trading. This information is not

commercially sensitive. It should be made available to

external organizations that can provide assistance to

countries to strengthen Kimberley Process control systems.

Greater and sustained resources are needed to better coordinate

and strengthen implementation of the scheme. The

Kimberley Process is not funded and is run by those that volunteer

time and resources.This is not sustainable and places an

undue burden on those who volunteer. A funding arrangement

must be found that will result in more equitable burden sharing

in terms of effort and financing and will increase assistance

for capacity building of governments and civil society. To

ensure effective involvement of civil society, member countries

should actively engage and finance NGOs to promote

effective Kimberley Process implementation at the country

level and hold governments and the industry to account, particularly

in countries with artisanal mining sectors.

For more information on Global Witness’ recommendations

to strengthen the Kimberley Process, please see the independent

review of how the scheme is working commissioned

at www.globalwitness.org/diamondreports. Global Witness

has also made an open submission to the Kimberley Process

review:

http://www.kimberleyprocess.com:8080/site/www_docs/rel

ated_docs1/review_kpcs_-_response_global_witness.pdf

1 For a full list of current participants see the Kimberley Process website http://www.kimberleyprocess.com:8080/site/?name=participants.

2 To read the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme Technical Document, see http://www.kimberleyprocess.com:8080/site/?name=kpcs&PHPSES

SID=e5b162e1ea8331c29582a1906fdf9c2a

3 See Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada press release, UN Report Condemns Conflict Diamond Exports, 9 October 2006.

http://www.globalwitness.org/press_releases/display2.php?id=382

4 See GAO report, Agency Actions Needed to Enhance Implementation of the Clean Diamond Trade Act, September 2006.

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06978.pdf

5 A Kimberley Process review visit to Sierra Leone in 2005 estimated that up to 20% of production is being smuggled out through neighbouring countries.

Global Witness is British-based non-governmental organisation which investigates the role of natural resources in funding conflict and corruption around the world. References to ‘Global

Witness’ above and in the body of this report are to Global Witness Limited, a company limited by guarantees and registered in England and Wales.This Report is compiled, published and

distributed by Global Witness Publishing Inc. from the results of research and investigations carried out by Global Witness Limited and is used to brief governments, inter-governmental

organisations, civil society, the media and the public.