The talk could be round whether or not to broaden the KP’s definition of battle diamonds to incorporate state actors.
The certification scheme, arrange within the early 2000s, defines battle diamonds as gems used to fund insurgent actions looking for to undermine legit governments.
The KP has the ability to ban gem exports from sure international locations, as it did in 2013 when rebels seized energy within the Central African Republic.
World Diamond Council president, Edward Asscher, believes the Russia-Ukraine battle ought to be saved out of discussions held this week.
“As I acknowledged publicly, regardless of what I or my colleagues might really feel personally concerning the dreadful occasions in Central Europe, a warfare between two sovereign states clearly falls outdoors the present mandate of the KP,” the business physique chief advised the plenary.
“That’s reality, and we’d be compounding a tragedy if we allowed the warfare in Europe to break what we’re capable of obtain in Africa,” Asscher stated.
Again in the marketplace
Russia’s Alrosa (MCX: ALRS), the world’s prime diamond producer by output, has already been affected by sanctions from the US and Britain. The Accountable Jewelry Council (RJC), the main requirements group of the worldwide jewelry and watch business, suspended Alrosa’s membership in April.
The miner, which accounts for a few third of world rough-diamond provide, is again promoting greater than $250 million value of diamonds a month, with gross sales presently solely about $50 to $100 million a month beneath pre-war ranges.
Whereas there isn’t a indication that Alrosa has breached sanctions or legal guidelines, there may be nonetheless a widespread unease concerning the implications of coping with Russian firms.
Primarily based on estimates from the KP and the United Nations, the one present case of insurgent forces controlling diamond-producing areas is in Côte d’Ivoire, in West Africa. That constitutes lower than 0.1% of the world’s manufacturing.
