The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) was launched in 2003 after negotiations that began in May 2000 in Kimberley, South Africa, among diamond-producing African states, the diamond industry, and civil society organizations such as Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada. It was endorsed by UN General Assembly Resolution 55/56 (2000) and formally established under Resolution 56/263 (2002).
The scheme requires participating states to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are free of "conflict diamonds," defined narrowly as rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments. Participants must enact domestic legislation, establish import/export controls, and trade rough diamonds only with other participants. Each shipment must be accompanied by a forgery-resistant Kimberley Process certificate.
Membership covers the large majority of the global rough-diamond trade, including the European Union (as a single participant), Russia, Botswana, South Africa, Canada, India, and the United States. The Process operates by consensus and rotates its chairmanship annually among participants. A tripartite structure gives formal observer roles to the World Diamond Council (industry) and a Civil Society Coalition.
The KPCS is widely credited with helping end the diamond-funded wars in Sierra Leone, Angola, and Liberia in the early 2000s. However, it has faced sustained criticism for its narrow definition of conflict diamonds, which excludes:
- Human rights abuses by state actors (e.g., the 2008 Marange massacre in Zimbabwe)
- Smuggling and money laundering
- Worker exploitation in artisanal mining
Global Witness withdrew from the scheme in 2011, citing its failure to address abuses in Zimbabwe and Côte d'Ivoire. The Civil Society Coalition boycotted the 2023 plenary over the chairing role of the United Arab Emirates and disputes over Russian diamonds following the invasion of Ukraine. Reform debates continue over expanding the definition of "conflict diamond" to include systematic violence linked to diamond extraction regardless of perpetrator.
Example
In 2013, the Central African Republic was suspended from the Kimberley Process after the Séléka rebel coalition seized power, halting legal exports of its rough diamonds until partial lifting began in 2016.
Frequently asked questions
Only rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance armed conflict against legitimate governments. Diamonds linked to state-perpetrated violence, labor abuses, or smuggling fall outside the definition.
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