The KP was established in May 2000, when representatives of diamond-producing states,
industry and civil society met in Kimberley, South Africa, to discuss ways to end the trade in
diamonds that were financing civil conflicts in Africa. The goal of the meeting was to collectively
consider methods of ensuring that sales of rough diamonds could not fund violent activities by
rebel movements and their allies seeking to undermine legitimate governments.
In December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution
supporting the creation of an international certification scheme for rough diamonds, and by
November 2002 successful negotiations within the KP resulted in the creation of the Kimberley
Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). The KPCS came into force on January 1, 2003, when
Participant countries began to implement its rules. Before being launched, each Participant
country or region had been required to approve the legislation and regulations necessary for
implementing the system in their territories.
Before the launch of the KPCS, the incidence of conflict diamonds in the distribution chain was
estimated to be in excess of 4 percent. Within just five years of its rollout, the number of
conflict diamonds in the legitimate trade has fallen to less than two-tenths of 1 percent.
