World Diamond Council (WDC) members representing every sector of the diamond industry, joined together for the Kimberley Process Intersessional Meeting in Perth running from May 1 to 4. The focus of this year’s meeting is the start of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) review cycle in order to strengthen the Kimberley Process, the WDC said in a statement.
For the second successive year, the WDC held an Observers Forum alongside the KP meeting, where WDC members, the African Diamond Producers Association and civil society partners (CSC, DDI) met to discuss their common goals and joint efforts to promote further evolution of the KPCS and improve its efficiency.
In light of the KP Reform, the Observes Forum achieved a common understanding on the following issues: strengthening KP internal controls, policy on conflict of interest and the establishment of a KP permanent secretariat.
“The WDC continues its efforts to improve the System of Warranties, designed to extend the confirmation of non-conflict origin down through the diamond pipeline,” said Andrey Polyakov, president of the WDC and vice president of ALROSA.
“We understand that the existing System of Warranties is far from being perfect, but we hope that by the end of this year we shall be able to present an updated System of Warranty. The creation of an effective system will be a significant industry contribution to strengthen consumer confidence and grow the excellent reputation of our product.
