WDC Says Strengthening KP Was Aim at Plenary Meeting

(IDEX Online News) – The strengthening of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) topped the agenda of the World Diamond Council (WDC) delegation at the four-day KPCS plenary meeting in China which ended on November 14, the WDC said.

WDC President Edward Asscher headed the delegation of 12 diamond and jewelry industry representatives from around the world attending the plenary meeting.

Following a proposal by the WDC, the KP's Administration Support Mechanism (ASM), which is managed and financed by WDC member organizations, will start providing educational and training tools for all KP participants.

At the initiative of the WDC, the KP Plenary welcomed a proposal by several working groups to consider relevant recommendations from a Financial Action Task Force Report that relate to risks associated with the supply of rough diamonds.  It was agreed that the Working Group on Monitoring and the Working Group of Diamond Experts would assess those recommendations in the context of their ongoing efforts to improve the KPCS and its implementation.

The WDC supported the reaffirmation of the Working Group on Monitoring of its commitment to continue the dialogue on the definition of conflict diamonds, in accordance with the decision taken at the KP plenary meeting in Johannesburg in November 2013.

The KP's Working Group of Diamond Experts sub-committee will address valuations of rough diamonds throughout the supply chain. Also discussed at the meeting of the Working Group of Diamond Experts was a survey of how KP member countries handle confiscated rough diamonds; the KP "roadmap" for the Central African Republic, which is designed to enable that country to become KP compliant; and the creation of a digital photo database, among other items.

"Although the required consensus was not achieved in Guangzhou on which of the two candidate countries, Australia or the United Arab Emirates, would become Vice Chair of the Kimberley Process in 2015, the WDC pledged openly to support any consensus decision that is made in this respect, and offered its support to the incoming KP Chair, Angola."