Brussels, 26/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - A broad debate was held by a panel of experts on Tuesday at the European Parliament on the responsibility of the European Union in the international trade of "conflict diamonds" and its duty to remedy the situation by imposing tighter controls on imports from African countries in conflict. A meeting was convened on the initiative of Dutch NGO NIZA (the Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa) belonging to the international diamond campaign called "Fatal Transactions" in collaboration with MEP Max van den Berg (NL, PES), Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Development, and Oxfam International. On this occasion, experts and parliamentarians examined the question on the basis of a report presented to them. The report, entitled "Conflict Diamonds: Crossing European Borders? A case study in Belgium, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands", reveals the failings of the EU Member States in implementation of the United Nations resolutions aimed at banning imports of diamonds that are the nerve centre of the war by UNITA rebels in Angola and RUF in Sierra Leone, as well as in Liberia. (Pursuant to UN resolutions, imports from Angola and Sierra Leone have been banned since 1998 except if diamonds are accompanied by a certificate of origin. Imports from Liberia have been the subject of a total embargo since 2001. Diamonds from the DRC are not yet the subject of sanctions).
Speaking of the case of Angola, Max Van de Berg stressed that, "natural resources are a component of the conflicts depending on the use or the ill-use that is made of them. The business world finances conflicts. We have a responsibility in this field. The climate today provides opportunities for tackling this problem", he said, referring to the new international fight against the funding of terrorism. He went on to add: "the Member States should find new instruments for cooperation. Improving European controls on diamond imports is only the first stage. The extension of controls on the illegal trade of arms and cooperation with financial institutions are other instruments available to us. We must show proof of our commitment towards all the victims of conflicts worldwide, by taking immediate action against the illegal financing of wars".
Presenting the report, Myriam van der Stichele, research worker at the Centre for Research of Multinational Corporations, placed emphasis on the following elements resulting from the examination of the regulation and of the inspection of direct and indirect imports of raw diamonds: 1) There are enormous disparities in the national inspection and control systems, with Belgium having a complete and costly electronic system, that the United Kingdom cannot pride itself with (boxes of diamonds are not opened at customs) and still less the Netherlands which does not have sufficient expertise for verifying the authenticity of the certificates. 2) Verification of certificates of origin is effective in Belgium where each parcel is examined by different authorities, but it is insufficient in the United Kingdom because of the selective verification methods used, as in the Netherlands. 3) The rules of free trade in force in the Union prevent the inspection of all raw diamonds that are traded between Member States. 4) Indirect imports (from incriminated countries but transiting via other countries) are not sufficiently regulated. The certification system for diamonds works at the first border that diamonds cross from Sierra Leone or Angola, but not when the diamonds are re-exported towards other countries and the certificate of origin does not accompany the diamonds during the polishing and cutting processes.
"Although measures have been taken by Member States, the European Union does not protect itself correctly against the trade of illegitimate diamonds", said Ms van der Stichele. She spoke of the lack of financial and human resources, and the lack of expertise (lack of data harmonisation, of statistics, etc.), adding that "the Union should act to guarantee that United Nations resolutions are fully respected on its territory. This requires collective action to be implemented by the Member States". Commenting on the failings that exist in the control of indirect imports, she felt that: "as long as strict controls are not carried out at external borders, the trade rules should not be strictly applied".
Although diamonds from Liberia, Angola and Sierra Leone are subject to serious controls in Belgium, no certificate of origin is required when they come from the DRC, Congo Brazzaville or South Africa, stressed Christian Dietrich, researcher at the International Peace Information Service (IPIS).
Marc van Bockstael from the Diamond High Council explained that the illegal trade in diamonds from areas of conflict in Africa, which is estimated to make up between 4 and 20% of the global diamond supply, was clearly not simply an ethical problem, but also damaged the legal trade in diamonds. Mr van Bockstael added that it would be hypocritical to suggest that they had only discovered conflict diamonds back in 1998 since they had tolerated them for two decades. He suggested that if they wanted to implement the UN resolutions, the origin of diamonds would have to be determined and importing countries would have to ensure that all stones imported were actually legal diamonds. He criticised the WTO rules in this connection, that authorise the sale of diamonds with no more than a certificate of the diamond's provenance (rather than origin), stressing that the embargo on Liberia was not, in his eyes, a total embargo since the country can legally export diamonds as long as they are not classified as rough diamonds, thereby leaving a gaping loophole.
According to the Coordinator of "Fatal Transactions", Judith Sargentini, the international campaign aims to raise public awareness about the liability of western companies involved in wars in Africa through the purchase of natural resources from armies, and to encourage citizens to demand that the governments and companies concerned implement effective controls that guarantee that trade in natural resources does not feed into conflicts and economic injustice in Africa. The first discussions about devising a system for checking the origin of rough diamonds took place in Kimberley (South Africa) in May 2000, and the negotiations are continuing. The aim of the Kimberley Process is to submit a draft global diamond certification system to the next United Nations General Assembly in December 2001. Fatal Transactions welcomed the first steps that have been made towards setting up an independent monitoring system to accompany the certification of diamonds, but Ms Sargentini points out that its effectiveness will depend on how it is implemented and the governments of diamond producing countries should continue to cooperate with the governments of diamond consuming countries to this end. The Campaign Coordinator, Judith Sargentini, explained that NGOs had been active in raising pressure for an international diamond certification scheme to be set up and that it was now time for the European Union to consider the issue.