24 hour diamond news.com

[International, Ministerial Diamond Conference Index]

 MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Conclusions of the Ministerial Meeting
Pretoria, 2lst September 2OOO

We, the Ministers and the representatives of the World's leading diamond exporting,
processing and importing states, met in Pretoria on 21s' September 2000, at the
invitation of the African diamond producing countries, to agree on what we could do
to break the link between the illicit trade in rough diamonds and armed conflict.

We reviewed the challenges and reached the following conclusions:

•             We are concerned that the trade in conflict diamonds is prolonging wars in
               parts of Africa; is frustrating development efforts and is causing immense
               suffering. We understand "conflict diamonds" to be rough diamonds which
               are illicitly traded by rebel movements to finance their attempts to
               overthrow legitimate governments

•              We recognise that conflict diamonds make up only a small fraction of the
               overall market for rough diamonds. The legitimate diamond trade makes a
               critical contribution to economic development worldwide. For this reason,
               we need to devise pragmatic and effective measures to address the
               problem of conflict diamonds, whilst ensuring that we do not harm the
               legitimate diamond industry;

•              We are resolved to do more and to work together to deny these `conflict
               diamonds' access to world markets, whilst recognising the difficulty of
               devising and enforcing measures to prevent smuggling of items that are
               portable, concealable, valuable, and difficult to identify by source, as
               diamonds.

•             We welcome important progress to date, in particular:
              The readiness of the Republic of South Africa and other countries
               participating in the conference to co-sponsor a resolution at the 55th 
               session of the United Nations General Assembly.

•             The role of the UNSC in addressing this problem. We commit ourselves to
               the full and rigorous implementation of the various UN sanctions regimes
               targeting the link between the illicit trade in rough diamonds and the
               supply of weapons and fuel to rebel movements;

•              The initiative of the G8, in the context of its commitment to conflict
               prevention at the Okinawa Summit in July 2000, to support practical
               approaches to the issue of conflict diamonds, including consideration of an
               international agreement on certification of rough diamonds:

•              National initiatives, including the steps taken by the governments of
               Angola and Sierra Leone to put in place effective national certification
               schemes, as well as the efforts by trading and marketing centers in
               Belgium, Israel and India to strengthen regulation and transparency of the
               trade;

•              Proposed steps by industry, including the resolution agreed at the World .
               Diamond Congress in Antwerp in July 2000, to address the problem of
               conflict diamonds;

•              The constructive role played by civil society organizations in raising
               public awareness on the conflict diamond issue, proposing practical
               solutions and helping generate the necessary political will required for
               concrete action.

We especially welcome the African Initiative that led to the Kimberley Process. As
the first of its kind, this initiative brought together producing, processing and trading
countries, and drew on the different perspectives and expertise of governments,
industry and civil society in generating ideas for workable solutions. It highlighted
that the problem or conflict diamonds is of international concern and requires a
comprehensive and practical approach.

• We agree that:
  A comprehensive approach should be explored to deal with the causes and
  drivers of conflict

• A mechanism of establishing an intergovernmental body to monitor
  compliance with the certification system should be investigated. This
  should include investigating the relationship between the
  intergovernmental body and the World Diamond Council

• We take note of the report of the Working Group and commend it as a
  valuable contribution to future international efforts to address this
  problem;

• We are resolved to maintain the momentum of the Kimberley Process by
  moving ahead  into an intergovernmental process to design a workable
  international certification scheme for rough diamonds. We have
  simple and effective scheme that does not place undue burden on
  governments and industry, particularly smaller produce;

• We therefore welcome the initiative to convene an intergovernmental
  conference in London to bring in other interested states and take the
  multilateral process forward

• We are conscious of the need for governments and industry to work together and to
  implement effective measures soon. This is necessary to curb conflicts in parts of
  Africa and maintain consumer confidence vital to the well-being of the industry.
  
  We are equally conscious of the need to ensure that the diamond trade optimally
  contributes to sustainable development and of the importance of working towards that
  objective.
  

    [International, Ministerial Diamond Conference Index]