Editor’s Note
This article discusses the Kimberley Process, an international certification scheme established to prevent the trade in “blood diamonds” and ensure that diamond purchases do not fund violence or human rights abuses.
They say they are some women’s best friends. They are also a symbol of commitment, but unfortunately, most of them are blood diamonds because they are produced under deplorable conditions, and the Kimberley Process aims to end this.
To obtain these stones, those responsible in this industry subject their workers to conditions of slavery and other harmful practices that endanger their lives.
Taking this into account, it was decided in Kimberley to develop a process to ensure that consumers stop acquiring blood-stained diamonds and halt the trafficking of these stones.
This program also involves diamond producers from America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East. According to the region, from now on, producers of rough diamonds must have national legislation and institutions to control their exports, imports, and internal sales.
Furthermore, each diamond must bear a legend indicating that the diamonds were obtained from legitimate sources, not involved in funding conflicts.
For decades, diamonds have been sold under the slogan: “A diamond is forever,” written by De Beers in 1947. However, there was no program or regulation to protect mining communities.
It was not until 2018 that the industry decided to address this conflict and meet the need for a regulation that guarantees the lawful origin of the stones to prevent or mitigate the damage from their illicit trafficking.
Those responsible state that the objective of this system is to ensure that “conflict diamonds” cannot be used to finance armed conflicts and discredit the legal market for rough diamonds; an economic pillar, particularly for certain developing countries in Africa.
The Kimberley Process states that it is the first system that guarantees consumers that the diamonds they purchase from their jeweler do not come from countries or zones of armed conflict, the so-called “blood diamonds.”
Under this same effort, another system of guarantees established by the UN was also developed, which determines that manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, jewelers, and individuals must demand from their supplier the guarantee clause on their invoice.
This means that the guarantee must extend from the value chain to the consumer acquisition process.
They also share that all imports of rough diamonds not accompanied by a certificate issued by a country participating in the Kimberley Process, as well as exports destined for non-participants, will be prohibited.