WDC: Diamond Industry Leads Battle against Conflict Diamonds

Stopping shy of calling it a blessing in disguise, World Diamond Council (WDC) Chairman Eli Izhakoff said the upcoming Blood Diamond movie serves the diamond industry by highlighting an issue that it has been combating for several years.

“Consumers will know to check that the retailer is only selling diamonds that passed through the Kimberley Process and the System of Warranties [and are therefore conflict free],” Izhakoff told IDEX Online in an interview. “The purchase of diamond jewelry has to be at a reliable place, and the consumer should demand to see proof that the diamonds are clean.”

Several NGOs (Non Government Organizations) claim that the Kimberley Process (KP) failed and are pointing a blaming finger at the diamond industry. “We are not against NGOs,” Izhakoff says. “We are against conflict diamonds.”

Currently, the Ivory Coast is the only diamond producing country suffering from civil war. Goods from the West African country are smuggled to Ghana, where they receive legitimate KP certificates, and enter the legitimate trade. The acknowledged smuggling is the sore point in the current battle against conflict diamonds.

Following the discovery of the problem, a group of experts is heading to Ghana to stop the illicit flow. Talking about the issue, Izhakoff says the problem is that the goods arrive at the government inspectors, who issue the KP certificates as locally mined diamonds. The experts’ job is to show the officials how to differentiate between locally mined diamonds and those that originate across the border.

“Export figures submitted to the KP exposed the illicit trade,” says Izhakoff, who points to the strengths of the system, saying this resulted from member government reports on their international rough diamond trade. The EU KP representative will oversee the implementation new controls and in three months, a decision will be taken about whether or not to allow Ghana to remain a member of the KP.

Two other countries that are also under scrutiny are Liberia and Venezuela. “The U.S. is helping Liberia put a control system in place with the intention of bringing them into the KP system. They are in the right direction, the problem is with the mechanism,” says Izhakoff, who sounds less optimistic about the situation in Venezuela.

While not an area in conflict, the country’s diamonds are smuggled out through Brazil. “It’s a breach in the system, and any loophole needs to be closed to preserve the integrity of the system. Every country has to meet the standards,” he says.

Overall, Izhakoff feels the diamond industry is doing well in its quest to stop conflict diamonds. Proof of which is an invitation he received from the Russian government to speak at a G8 initiated conference titled “Global Forum for Partnerships between Government and Businesses to Counter Terrorism”, to be held in Moscow November 28 – 30. He has been invited to tell G8 ministers and international business leaders about the success of the KP in bringing together governments and businesses to act on a common cause.

Some NGOs are bringing up child labor as an important topic related to diamond mining. Izhakoff expressed support for a host of initiatives by various bodies, including Diamonds for development by De Beers and efforts by CRJP.

“The issue of transparency that the KP brought about has naturally highlighted this problem. I hope these efforts will contribute to the eradication of child labor”.

“Africa is now in the focus, and this is a positive opportunity to bring change,” he concludes.