At the recent KP Plenary Meeting that ended on November 16 in Brussels, the World Diamond Council (WDC) reiterated its support for the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) “as the most effective means possible to end the trade in conflict diamonds”, but expressed concern “that more progress was not made in reforming its scope” during the meeting, according to Gem Konnect.
The WDC expressed hope that the Kimberley Process participants will support a wider definition of conflict diamonds ahead of the next KP Plenary in India in 2019. WDC President Stephane Fischler added that the KP should be playing “a primary role” in protecting the interests of artisanal and small-scale miners, who account for 5%-10% of rough diamond production by value. He said those miners should be able to obtain “legitimate access to the world markets”.
During the meeting, the KP Plenary adopted three administrative decisions – establishment of a Kimberley Process secretariat, the compilation of modifications to technical definitions, and the use of unified diamond nomenclature and terminology as a best practice.
