A delegation consisting of Government officials and Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) representatives led by Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, Government of India attended the KP Plenary Session held at Brisbane, Australia from 9-14 December, 2017. In one of a landmark decisions favoring India’s leading position in Diamonds globally, India was appointed as the Kimberly Process (KP) Vice Chair for 2018 & Chair for 2019 in the last plenary held in Dubai in November, 2016. The EU will be KP Chair for 2018.

The Kimberley Process is a joint Government, International Diamond Industry and Civil Society initiative to stem the flow of Conflict Diamonds.  “Conflict Diamonds” means rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance conflict aimed at undermining legitimate governments.  It is also described in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. The KPCS came to into effect from 1st January, 2003 and evolved into an effective mechanism for stopping the trade in conflict diamonds. India is the founding member of KPCS. At present, KPCS has 54 members representing 81 countries including the EU with 28 members. India is one of the founding members of the KPCS and was Chair of the KPCS for the year 2008.

At the Brisbane Plenary, India was selected as Chair for the Ad Hoc Committee on Review & Reforms (AHCRR) to reform the process for the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. Angola will be the Vice Chair of this Adhoc Committee and will work with India and other members of the Committee (which includes Past Chairing countries & Civil Society, WDC, ADPA, DDI etc.)  on the Reform issues related to changes in core document, expansion of scope of the KP, permanent secretariat office, multi donor fund issues etc.

The Indian representation at the meet emphasized on the guidelines for reconciliation in the working group on statistics and framework for information sharing in KPCS to eradicate the scourge of forged certificates of KPCS and to make it more secured.  India proposed a system of procedure to make the peer review visits more professional and administratively efficient.  Members were encouraged for introduction of measures of enforcement like My KYC Bank to enhance responsible sourcing in terms of ensuring financial transparency and giving technological solutions for differentiation between natural and lab grown diamonds by introducing affordable machines for detection to the industry.

Kimberley Process reform: India to chair ad hoc committee to revise certification, expand scope and strengthen controls. India will chair an Ad Hoc Committee on Review & Reforms of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme to propose revisions to the core document, consider scope expansion, evaluate a permanent secretariat and multi donor funding, and strengthen operational safeguards against forged certificates through statistical reconciliation, information sharing frameworks, professional peer reviews, financial transparency measures and accessible detection technology for differentiating natural and lab grown diamonds.