Issues related specifically to the Kimberley Process
“The KPCS has been an absolutely critical element in maintaining peace in producing countries through increased traceability of rough diamond trade, and we must redouble our efforts to strengthen its impact,” said WDC President Stephane Fischler.
Speaking directly to government representatives at the start of the 2019 Kimberley Process (KP) Plenary Meeting in New Delhi, India, on November 18, Stephane Fischler, President of the World Diamond Council (WDC), has stated that, with the KP’s three-year reform and review cycle about to end, the governments alone hold the future of the Kimberley Process’ much anticipated reform agenda in their hands.
The final minutes are on the clock for the KP’s three-year review and reform cycle, which began in 2016 and will end at the Plenary Meeting under the chairmanship of India.
Over a 20-year span there are unlikely any diamond industry officials other than Mark Van Bockstael who racked up more travel time and hotel nights in some of Africa’s most volatile locations.
The KP is in the final few months of a three-year review and reform process, which is scheduled to end at the 2019 KP Plenary Meeting, which will be held in the Indian capital of New Delhi from November 11 to November 15.
It is a system that can be wieldy and cumbersome, but also effective, having the ability to eliminate the presence of almost all rough diamonds financing civil war within just several years of the KPCS being launched in 2003.
The WDC President called on participants to agree on the measures necessary for strengthening the KPCS’s impact, both in improving the lives and prospects of communities in the mining areas, and also in meeting the expectations of consumers in the jewelry markets.
He was speaking during the Opening Session of the 2019 Intersessional Meeting of the Kimberley Process (KP), which opened today in the Indian city of Mumbai.
Decisions that are taken over the next six months, as part of the review and reform process, will reverberate for years to come and impact lives and livelihoods all the way up and down the diamond value chain.
While somewhat narrower in focus than that of the OECD’s full due diligence guidance, it is our strong contention that the SoWs are a crucial component for implementing the OECD system in the diamond supply chain.
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