Brussels
The European Union intends to clean up the diamond trade.
The European Commission which will take over, in January, as chair of what is known as the "Kimberley Process" that intends to improve the ethics in the diamond industry. It will also try to ensure effective implementation of controls by all participants in the "Kimberley Process" and to close down remaining loopholes.
The E.U. has a central role in the implementation of the ''Kimberley Process'', as eighty percent of the world’s rough diamonds are traded in Antwerp, Belgium.
The initiative aims to combat ''conflict diamonds'' - rough diamonds used to finance warfare - after the experience of conflicts in some diamond-producing countries in Africa.
Diamonds were used to finance some of the brutal wars seen on the African continent during the 1990s:
* In Angola, by UNITA.
* In Sierra Leone, by the RUF(Revolutionary United front) rebels, supported by the warlord, and former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, who is currently facing war crimes charges.
· In the Democratic Republic of Congo, by several rebel groups.
The conditions were condemned by the United Nations, which resulted in some growth in the awareness of the issue by the end of the 1990s.
Consumers no longer wanted to buy diamonds, not knowing if they had financed wars or other atrocities. A consensus between the industry and other organisations developed around the need to prevent diamonds from being used to finance wars or falling into bad hands.
The Negotiations began in 2000 and were concluded in 2002 with the adoption of a document in which participating states agreed to implement controls and to certify all rough diamonds which were exported, in order to ensure that ''conflict diamonds'' could not enter the legal trade market.
According to European Commission officials, all the key elements are now in place to ensure that purchases of diamonds do not fuel conflicts.
Blood diamonds are returning to the public limelight with the release in Hollywood of the movie ''Blood Diamond'' staring Leonardo DiCaprio, which angers many in the diamond industry, as they are concerned about their public image - especially by the market leader De Beers - and fear that public might stay away from diamonds because of the movie.
Israel Rafalovich
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report
For those interested in the film: Blood Diamond
http://blooddiamondmovie.warnerbros.com
The European Union intends to clean up the diamond trade.
The European Commission which will take over, in January, as chair of what is known as the "Kimberley Process" that intends to improve the ethics in the diamond industry. It will also try to ensure effective implementation of controls by all participants in the "Kimberley Process" and to close down remaining loopholes.
The E.U. has a central role in the implementation of the ''Kimberley Process'', as eighty percent of the world’s rough diamonds are traded in Antwerp, Belgium.
The initiative aims to combat ''conflict diamonds'' - rough diamonds used to finance warfare - after the experience of conflicts in some diamond-producing countries in Africa.
Diamonds were used to finance some of the brutal wars seen on the African continent during the 1990s:
* In Angola, by UNITA.
* In Sierra Leone, by the RUF(Revolutionary United front) rebels, supported by the warlord, and former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, who is currently facing war crimes charges.
· In the Democratic Republic of Congo, by several rebel groups.
The conditions were condemned by the United Nations, which resulted in some growth in the awareness of the issue by the end of the 1990s.
Consumers no longer wanted to buy diamonds, not knowing if they had financed wars or other atrocities. A consensus between the industry and other organisations developed around the need to prevent diamonds from being used to finance wars or falling into bad hands.
The Negotiations began in 2000 and were concluded in 2002 with the adoption of a document in which participating states agreed to implement controls and to certify all rough diamonds which were exported, in order to ensure that ''conflict diamonds'' could not enter the legal trade market.
According to European Commission officials, all the key elements are now in place to ensure that purchases of diamonds do not fuel conflicts.
Blood diamonds are returning to the public limelight with the release in Hollywood of the movie ''Blood Diamond'' staring Leonardo DiCaprio, which angers many in the diamond industry, as they are concerned about their public image - especially by the market leader De Beers - and fear that public might stay away from diamonds because of the movie.
Israel Rafalovich
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report
For those interested in the film: Blood Diamond
http://blooddiamondmovie.warnerbros.com