Without Members Approval, KP Chair Authorizes Resumption of Zimbabwe Exports

(IDEX Online News) - In a decision that brought instant and strong reactions from the U.S. and the European Union, Kimberley Process (KP) Chairman Mathieu Lapfa Lambang Yamba of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has allowed the resumption of rough diamond exports from Zimbabwe’s Mbada and Canadile fields, including the exports of stockpiles.

The Chair's decision did not go through the procedure that would allow such a decision – a vote of KP members. To be approved, the resolution will need to pass on opposed.

The U.S. has warned the UAE, South Africa and India that it will publish the names of those taking delivery of these goods on its government website to warn U.S. companies that those companies might offering them goods that are not KP compliant goods. The U.S. has also said that it would ask the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers all U.S. sanctions procedures, to scrutinize these transactions.

The EU has reportedly said that the decision was not taken through due process and therefore could not stand.

Sources told IDEX Online that the KP chairman wrote to all participants and observers, authorizing the immediate resumption of exports from Mbada and Canadile and that all unresolved issues would be dealt with at the meeting of the Working Group on Monitoring (WGM) scheduled for November 20-23 this year.

In his letter, the Chairman said that the KP system was faced with a vacuum since November 2010 as clause 3(b) remained a stumbling block following the reservations expressed by Zimbabwe and other participants. The clause is in a suggested agreement to resolve the impasse over Zimbabwe's exports from the Marenge region.

Yamba noted that the issues raised in this clause poses problems with regard to KPCS rules and procedures and that there was a need to be more specific and remove all forms of ambiguity. He said that the stoppage of exports by the KPCS must be subjected to “a more credible mechanism that includes verification of allegations and due process.”

The situation is now very fluid and rapidly evolving at the time of writing.