India to chair Kimberley Process from 1 January

On the concluding day of the plenary, Federica Mogherini, high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, vice president of the European Commission, in the closing ceremony, handed over KPCS chairmanship to India, from 2019, by passing on the gavel to commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan.

During his valedictory address, the Indian commerce secretary said India as a KP chair from 1 January 2019, will be committed to make the KPCS a stronger process in terms of inclusiveness, strengthened administration and implementation, efficient in terms of delivery of what it promises, more transparent and empathetic towards the living standards of people who are dependent on the production, trade and manufacture of diamonds.

He further said that India is sensitive to the issues and challenges of Artisanal & Small-Scale Mining (ASM) and acknowledged the contribution made by the KP members, observers and agencies for the upliftment of ASMs. India, during its chairmanship will continue with the tradition and aim to support the ASMs with capacity building, technical assistance and education on valuation, differentiation between natural and lab grown diamonds, importance of legal and formal mining practices.

On the sidelines of the plenary, chair of working groups conducted meetings to discuss some key issues like KP statistics and confidentiality, synthetic diamonds and separate HS code for synthetic rough diamonds, issues relating to review visit and review mission and the issue of Central African Republic (CAR).

The 4-day plenary also witnessed discussion on environmental challenges in diamond mining and industry responsibility.

During the plenary session, India held bilateral meetings with Botswana, USA, Russian Federation and World Diamond Council to discuss various issues related to KPCS and its working groups.          

India is the founding member of KPCS and is actively involved in KP activities to ensure that almost 99 per cent of the diamond trade in the world is conflict free. 

India also chaired the ad hoc committee on review and reform (AHCRR).

The AHCRR held one joint session with chairs of other Working groups and four sessions with AHCRR committee members to discuss the issue of funding of permanent secretariat, Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF), peer review mechanism and consolidation to the core document.

This year was the fifteenth anniversary of KPCS. Since its launch in 2003, the Kimberley Process has proven to be an effective multilateral tool for conflict prevention in stemming the flow of conflict diamonds. The Kimberley Process has made valuable developmental impact in improving the lives of most people dependent on the trade in diamonds.