09/13 2:48P US Congress Looks To Certify Origins Of Diamond Imports
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Congress is exploring ways to certify the
origins of diamond imports, in an effort to stem the flow of cash financing
war in diamond-mining regions of Africa.
During a hearing before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade
Wednesday, an array of witnesses called for the U.S. to work toward an
international certification system that would guarantee American consumers
that the diamonds they purchase weren't mined in war-zones.
"The illicit diamond trade has assisted a few bad men to create anarchy and
chaos on the African continent," said Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga.
Rebels use profits from diamond sales to purchase increasingly sophisticated
weapons, which empower them to commit atrocities against civilians, including
widespread rapes, amputations, and deaths, witnesses said.
"For the seemingly intractable wars of Sierra Leone, Angola, and (Congo),
the point of each of these wars may not be to actually win them, but to engage
in profitable crime under the cover of warfare," said Rory Anderson of World
Vision, a human rights group.
Reps. Frank Wolf, R-Va., and Tony Hall, R-Ohio, have introduced legislation
that would require diamonds entering the U.S. to be accompanied by a
certificate of mined origin, unless it is imported from a diamond-cutting
center that has adopted a system of certifying rough gems.
Their legislation relies heavily on a diamond-industry plan to allow cutting
and finishing centers, primarily in Belgium, Israel, India, and the
Netherlands, to only purchase uncut stones with forgery-proof certificates of
origin in tamperproof packaging. While the origin of rough stones can easily
be identified, once the gems are cut and polished that becomes impossible.
This is why controls by the cutting-centers are now the only practical way
to address the problem without unfairly harming legitimate diamond trade,
William Wood, U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for
International Organization Affairs, said during testimony.
"I know all of us wish that we had readily available technology for marking
diamonds or determining their origin geologically, but unfortunately that does
not exist," Wood said.
Incentives for the diamond industry to cooperate with efforts to deter
smuggling are growing with fears that consumers may eventually connect the
image of diamonds with the suffering in Africa and boycott.
"Whether Congress likes it or not, American consumers simply will not be a
party to this blood trade once ads like Benetton's, perhaps showing diamond
bracelets on Sierra Leone amputees, start to run," said Rep. Hall.
Still, some members of Congress and human rights activists say the U.S.
should do more, particularly against governments the U.N. has identified as
exporting the smuggled gems.
"I would also like to ask the Committee to seriously consider action against
diamonds that are certified as having come from Liberia as well," said Rep.
McKinney. "It is physically impossible for Liberia to produce the diamonds
that it says it does."
In 1998, Liberia's natural resources were estimated to allow about $10
million of diamonds for export, but it actually sold $297 million.
Other countries that have been targeted by the U.N. as complicit in
smuggling are Burkina Faso, Togo, and Rwanda.
-By Elizabeth Price, Dow Jones Newswires
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