Rob Bates

The Global Witness Retail Survey
January 4, 2007

The NGOs are again surveying retailers as to their blood diamond policies. The results will be released -- naturally  -- on Valentine's Day. Since this is a survey of big companies, and it's safe to say just about every major retailer is compliant with the System of Warranties, they have thrown in a few curve balls, which Jewelers of America has already objected to. (Here is a World Diamond Council statement on the survey.)

Among the more controversial questions: What actions is your company taking "to prevent selling blood diamonds being smuggled from the Ivory Coast" and what are your policies "for ensuring that suppliers are responsibly sourcing diamonds."

You can argue whether these questions are fair or not -- to me, it seems almost a foregone conclusion that even some conscientious companies won't have much to say on those two topcs. And since the survey is mostly essay questions, the NGOs will have considerable latitude on how they are "graded." (Pass/fail? On a curve?)  But as no one likes to be publicly lashed by NGOs, I spoke to Corinna Gilfillan of Global Witness as to what the group is looking for, which may be of guidance to anyone filling out the survey (the deadline is tomorrow, but Gilfillan promises the group will do follow-up calls):

"Retailers need to go beyond the System of Warranties. We don't agree that jewelers should only stick to what's agreed. We think the big jewelers have a responsibility to do more ..

"The retailers need to better screening of their suppliers to make sure they have responsible sourcing. Some retailers do spot checks on their suppliers and more need to. Major retailers need to ask: How do you know that your diamonds are not coming from Cote D'Ivore?"

She said that retailers need "some kind of auditing measure" of their "conflict-free" warranties, like having their auditors do it, or a system like NGO darling Tiffany, which uses the ISO. She notes the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices is developing such a system, but that won't be up and running for a while.

As for JA's complaint that the survey was sent out at the height of the holiday season, Gilfillan said, "This should be no problem. They should be ready to go and to respond to these types of queries -- especially during the holiday season."

By the way, I happen to agree with Global Witness that the System of Warranties is the kind of half-measure that has basically pleased no one -- but I am also finding that not many ideas on what, if anything, should replace it. Amnesty International, at a press conference, said "in an ideal world there would be government regulation," but dealing with the realities of this one, I can't see the U.S. government all of  a sudden running spot-checks on jewelers' Kimberley warrants. Perhaps it's best to just scrap it and concentrate on better controls on the rough. Anyway, I open the floor to suggestions and further discussion.

And here is recent video of Gilfillan on C-Span, getting some strange questions, along with a phone-in from Ronnie Mervis of Mervis Diamond Importers.

Posted by Rob Bates on January 4, 2007 | Comments (0)