Kimberley Certificates New York Style!

Fearful that his goods might be confiscated he rushed to the Israeli Kimberley Authority and pleaded that it was truly a mistake. The Israeli Kimberley Authority was willing to accommodate: “Call your courier company and tell them not to import the rough parcels into the United States, tell them not to open the packages, and instruct them to return the goods immediately to Israel.

“If the parcels come back here in their original unopened state, we’ll allow you to take the goods back and export them with the required Kimberley Certificate.”

The diamantaire did exactly as instructed and, indeed, a few days later the two parcels came back, unopened, exactly as the Israeli Kimberley Authority had requested. However, surprise, surprise. The two parcels were covered by duly issued U.S. Kimberley rough export certificates!

It defies imagination how the U.S. can certify rough exports of parcels that were never imported into the United States. (And if they, accidentally, had been imported – they should have been confiscated, as they didn’t have the proper certificates. Nor did they have an exporter.) No wonder the U.S. remains a “preferred destination” for the “legitimization” of goods.

Of course, in any system, “accidents” happen. But this is not an accident. The procedure through which any parcel presented to courier companies automatically gets a certificate – filled out by secretaries of the courier companies – needs urgent rethinking.