report trdae blood diamonds Amsterdam, April 11, 2002

["Cor Groenendijk" <groenend at antenna.nl>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "FT " <FT at Niza.NL>
To: "Judith Sargentini" <Judith at Niza.NL>
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2002 10:46 AM
Subject: Amsterdam, April 11, 2002


Amsterdam, April 11, 2002

Dear Madam, Sir,

Please find enclosed the report of the expert meeting 'Implementing
Kimberley, Stopping the blood diamond trade to Europe' that has been
organised on the 7th of March 2002 in The European Parliament, Brussels, by
NiZA, Oxfam International and Fatal Transactions.
Hosted by Member of European Parliament mr.Max van den Berg, more than 50
'experts' in one way or another involved in the diamond trade, gathered to
discuss in a lively and constructive debate the issue of conflict diamonds
and ways to address their control from within the European Union.

The expert meeting on the implementation of the Kimberley process in the
European Unions was purposely scheduled a week before the renewed UN
resolution and 10 days before the meeting of the participants of the
Kimberley process in Ottawa, Canada, (March 18-20 2002).

It was nót scheduled after the death of Jonas Savimbi in Angola. His death
offered hope that a negotiated settlement might now be possible. However,
the existence of a chance for peace in Angola, as in Sierra Leone and
possibly in de Democratic Republic of Congo does unfortunately not mean that
this meeting, and the struggle against conflict diamonds in general, has
become abundant. Wars are not over. Diamond trafficking remains a lucrative
source or revenue for rebels in Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the
Democratic Republic of Congo. The threat of flaring up of conflict will
remain as long as easy diamonds are available. Only an effective global
certification system for all rough diamonds can help to end this. More than
ever implementation of the Kimberley Process is needed.

The Ottawa meeting has shed some light on the agenda for the world-wide
implementation of certificates. Still a certification scheme should be in
place on December 31 2002, but change that front runners will start at July
1 2002 is down to zero.

On some issues Ottawa has reached a breakthrough. The issue of the WTO
compliance and the issue of statistics - who is exporting what to whom and
were does it go from there, have evened out some major barriers. However, to
set in place a good functioning global certification scheme one needs a
co-ordinating bureau. This continues to be a no-go area for some countries,
as they fear heavy bureaucracy and an endless system. In Europe, where the
Commission claimed it could have a scheme up and running in July 2002, we
are awaiting the final proposals. In June these will be send to the Council
of Ministers and the European Parliament and in autumn a conclusion should
be reached on a regulation. The implementation of the global certification
system is, again, scheduled to be launched in Switzerland in November 2002.

It is due time that the European Commission puts its proposal for a
regulation in writing.  Let us continue discussions from that onwards. In
the upcoming moths until the Switzerland Kimberley meeting we hope to hear a
clear, unified European voice that pushes for world-wide control on conflict
diamonds. We will constantly remind you of the obligation to make Kimberley
work, to stop the trade in blood diamonds.

We would like to thank all of you who contributed to the success of the
meeting.

Yours sincerely,

Kirsten Hund, Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa
Judith Sargentini, Fatal Transactions

PS: The report is attached as PDF but can also be downloaded at :
www.niza.nl/fataltransactions
You can order a printed version by replying to this email.


******************************************
FATAL TRANSACTIONS,
international diamond campaign
Judith Sargentini M.A.
International Campaign Coordinator

Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa (NiZA)
P.O. box  10707
NL-1001 ES Amsterdam
T +31.20.5206210
F+ 31.20.5206249
FT at niza.nl  / Judith at niza.nl
www.niza.nl/fataltransactions
www.niza.nl/diamonds
************************************



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