Namibia now chair of Kimberley process

NAMIBIA has taken over as chair of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) for the next year from India, which will be chairing the KP’s participation committee.

‘2008 has been another eventful year for the KP. We were confronted with many challenges and were called upon to decide on a number of issues. We have been able to successfully forge a consensus and resolve some of these issues to the satisfaction of all concerned,’ said Rahul Khullar, outgoing Chair of the Kimberley Process, on Friday.
The Kimberley Process (KP) is a joint government, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds – rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments.
The trade in these illicit stones has fuelled decades of devastating conflicts in countries such as Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone, according to the official KP website.
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) imposes extensive requirements on its members to enable them to certify shipments of rough diamonds as ‘conflict-free’ and prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate trade. Under the terms of the KPCS, participating states must meet ‘minimum requirements’ and must put in place national legislation and institutions; export, import and internal controls; and also commit to transparency and the exchange of statistical data.
Participants can only legally trade with other participants who have also met the minimum requirements of the scheme.The Kimberley Process is chaired, on a rotating basis, by participating countries. So far, South Africa, Canada, Russia, Botswana, the EU and India have chaired the KP for a 12-month period each.