Zimbabwe Mission Couldn’t Decide On Recommendations for Future Exports

The ten member review mission wrote in its final report that “there is consensus among the team that certain elements of the JWP [Joint Work Plan] remain incomplete and there is still a lot of work to do to bring Zimbabwe to full compliance with the minimum requirements of the KPCS.

“The discussions, therefore, concentrated on a number of factors:

·              The level of future connection between the pace and timing of exports and progress by the Government of Zimbabwe on the JWP, and the respective roles of the review team, WGM [Working Group on Monitoring], and KP Plenary in this regard. 

·              The Government’s need to present a detailed plan for the disposition of the stockpile (discussed above).

·              The result of the need for future Government undertakings related to implementation of the JWP on the private investors that have already been asked to do quite a lot to move progress forward on the JWP. In short, how directly should the activities of the individual investors (and thus the state of the diamond industry more generally) be affected by progress, or lack thereof, that is attributable to the Government? How should the stability of the diamond market and economic impact of mine operation or closure on local Zimbabweans be considered?”

The report then arrives at the conclusion that, partly due to the mandate set in the St. Petersburg agreement which lacks “specificity with respect to the formulation of recommendations concerning future exports beyond the pre-May 28, 2010 stockpile, and as a result of the divergence of views, the team could not decide on a recommendation on future exports, and it is felt that the WGM should address this critical question in its own deliberations and, most importantly, those with the Government of Zimbabwe.” [Emphasis added]

This conclusion tosses the hot potato back into the hands of the working group on monitoring and opens it to be resolved in negotiations directly with Zimbabwe.

The road to this wording was a long one. In the last few days before the Plenary, the team failed to reach a final version and even considered submitting a report with majority and minority opinions. 

The debate ensued between those members that sought to find a way to keep Zimbabwe in KP - requiring it to make changes that would bring to meet the KP standards - and those that felt that Zimbabwe should prove that it meets higher standards, and in the mean time be excluded from exporting.