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World Diamond Council Calls

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Rapaport TradeWire
World Diamond Council Press Release
September 8, 2000

The World Diamond Council (WDC), the international body chartered by the diamond industry to eradicate the trade in conflict diamonds, held its inaugural meeting in Tel Aviv on Thursday, September 7 to begin implementing the plan it drafted at the World Diamond Congress in July 2000.

The main features of the plan include:

  • Establishment of dedicated import/export offices for rough diamonds closely supervised by individual government authorities;

  • Adoption of a uniform international certification system of sealing and authenticating each parcel of rough diamonds prior to export;

  • Monitoring and verifying industry-wide compliance with ethical codes of conduct that prohibit the trade in conflict diamonds;

  • Obliging banks, insurance companies, shipping companies and other providers of auxiliary goods and services to cease business relations with any company or individual knowingly involved in dealing in conflict diamonds;

  • The result of these steps will be to support a chain of warranties for traders of polished diamonds based on these rough controls;

    The WDC called upon the governments of those countries involved in diamond trade to enact and enforce these measures described above, offering its expertise and assistance to governments in drafting appropriate legislation.

    In addition, the WDC asked that all relevant governments and the United Nations (UN) initiate an international embargo on the trade in weapons that provide rebel forces with the means to wage war.

    The WDC invites the UN, governments, and NGO's, in the pursuit of international peace and security, to examine the role of other natural resources and, most importantly, the arms trade, in perpetuating the conflict.

    Mr. Eli Izhakoff, Chairman, said, "The World Diamond Council, representing the entire international diamond industry, pledges to continue to work in a spirit of cooperation with governments, civil societies and the United Nations to eliminate the trade in conflict diamonds."

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