Taken Question: Kimberley Process Goals

Question: What is the United States expecting from the Kimberley Process meeting? What are the goals?

Answer: In June, members of the Kimberley Process (KP) came to Washington to discuss how we could continue the work to improve and modernize the KP. This week, more than 340 delegates from 70 countries, plus industry and civil society, at the U.S. State Department for the 10th annual meeting of the KP. We have come back together to finish the first set of these critical discussions, and to take concrete next steps to what we want to achieve:

• Kimberley certificates must ensure diamonds are free from conflict – this definition should be broadened to include situations beyond rebel movements seeking to overthrow legitimate governments;
  
• The KP needs an Administrative Support Mechanism, whose role would be exclusively to provide administrative support with no policy role of any kind. An ASM would help South Africa with its Chairmanship and should improve how the KP functions, providing continuity from one Charimanship to the next.
  
• This week, the Plenary will be asked to adopt a proposal that would integrate development into diamond production by artisanal and alluvial producers. This would reduce the potential for conflict and improve the lives of those who are at the very beginning of the supply chain.

Stakeholders around the world – from workers to local communities in producing countries to civil society to consumers – are striving to ensure that the trade in rough diamonds does not fuel conflict in the way that, sadly, we have seen in the past.