Authorities tighten on possible ‘blood diamonds’ infiltration

Feb 12, 2017 News

Government is continuing to tighten its systems to prevent the so-called ‘blood diamonds’ from infiltrating the local trade.
On Friday, Minister of State Joseph Harmon disclosed that Cabinet has approved the

Govt. is tightening on its systems to make it difficult for ‘blood diamonds’ to enter the country.

hiring of a legal consultant on the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) used to certify diamonds.
The KPCS was launched in 2003 in a bid to clean up the international diamond trade after it was recognised that diamonds were being used to finance war and terrorism.
The request for legal help came from the Ministry of Natural Resources, Harmon disclosed during his post-Cabinet press briefing at the Ministry of the Presidency.
Harmon said the KPCS is important for preventing “conflict diamonds” from infiltrating Guyana’s local production which could affect the country’s production credibility on the international market.
In late 2014, a high level team from the KPCS visited Guyana to assess whether the country’s system was robust enough to prevent illegal diamonds from being mixed in the legitimate ones.
Neighbouring Venezuela has been blacklisted by the watchdog body.
However, the porous borders of Guyana has long been a major worry for authorities, with the country facing a possible halting of trade to well-established European and other markets if it is found that dirty diamonds have infiltrated.
The Kimberly Process was implemented more than a decade ago and a Peer Review of Guyana’s process was conducted in 2004. The review is considered one of the most robust processes by the Kimberly Scheme.
The Kimberley Process (KP) is open to all countries that are willing and able to implement its requirements. The KP has over 50 participants, representing more than 80 countries, with the European Union and its member states counting as a single participant. KP members account for approximately 99.8% of the global production of rough diamonds.
There have been reports in the past of diamonds from Brazil and Venezuela entering Guyana’s system. Guyana had been named as a risky diamond trading country.
In late 2015, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) said that it is alerting diamond companies to a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) notice which identifies Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Myanmar as countries which pose a significant risk. This, the centre states, will require enhanced customer due diligence when trading with them.
It was further asserted that diamond companies have been requested to take into account the specific risks linked to the following countries when making their customer risk assessment: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Guyana, Iraq, Lao PDR, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Syria, Uganda and Yemen.
It has long been known that diamonds, especially from Africa, have been funding wars and terrorist activities.

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