The Kimberley Process, KP, the International initiative to stem the trade in conflict diamonds, has appointed the European Union as its Chair for 2018. As well, the EU will serve as Vice-Chair in 2017, during the Australian Chairmanship. According to the Commission, in doing this, the European Union will have a unique opportunity to strengthen the effectiveness of the KP, in particular in the context of its upcoming reform, reinforcing and promoting an open dialogue among the three pillars that it makes up - Governments, industry and Civil Society.
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, KPCS, was launched in 2002 by a unique coalition of Governments, Civil Society and the diamond industry in response to the role of diamonds in funding some of the most devastating civil wars in Africa. The KPCS sets out requirements for participating States to control all imports and exports of rough diamonds. The Scheme puts in place rigorous internal controls over production and trade. Participating States can only legally trade with other participating States who have also met the minimum requirements of the Scheme, and International shipments of rough diamonds must be accompanied by a KPCS Certificate guaranteeing that they are conflict-free.
The European Union has been at the forefront of the KPCS since the outset. The Union has been chairing the Working Group on Monitoring, overseeing the Scheme's peer review mechanism and dealing with issues of non-compliance. The European Union last chaired the Kimberley Process in 2007.
Southern African diamond-producing States met in Kimberley, South Africa, in May 2000 to discuss ways to stop the trade in ‘conflict diamonds,' also called 'blood diamonds,' and to ensure that this trade was not fuelling violence by rebel movements.
In December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a landmark Resolution supporting the creation of the KPCS which came into existence in 2003. The Kimberley Process has 54 participating members, representing 81 countries, and more than 99% of global rough diamond production and trade.The EU is a single member and is represented by the European Commission.
Strategic minerals such as diamonds, oil, uranium, cobalt, copper and gold are fuelling wars in Africa because the proceeds from their sale are used to buy arms and drugs, and even to cultivate strategic alliances at home and abroad. There is a link between diamond exploitation on the one hand, and criminal complicity between the International diamond industry and Africa’s political elites, warlords and multi-national companies on the other.
On 23 June 2014 the European Union adopted its position on the responsible sourcing of minerals stressing that breaking the links between conflict and minerals extraction requires a broad range of policies and actions, including appropriate incentives for EU companies, capacity building and outreach activities to be deployed in a strategically coherent way in order to effectively tackle the root causes of conflict and fragility.
The concept of responsible sourcing is referred to in the updated OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and is in line with the objectives and principles of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Fundamental Rights. Both aim at encouraging businesses to proactively and reactively verify, due diligence, that their commercial activities are not contributing to conflict.
As from 1 January 2014 the EU is providing financial support for the implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance and for the African International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, ICGLR, Initiative on Natural Resources.
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