Jewelers of America hailed the participants of the Kimberley Process for its achievements at its annual plenary meeting last week in Botswana.

JA had joined others in calling for changes such as: more control over the movement of diamonds within borders, better management of KP trading statistics, and greater funding for effective ongoing management of the system, which now includes 71 countries.

Mathew A. Runci, JA president and CEO, said in a statement that he particularly pleased with a plan to Ghana to comply with KP regulations after the United Nations reported that conflict diamonds from a rebel zone in Côte d’Ivoire were entering international markets through the country.

“The plenary approved a plan to help Ghana strengthen its internal diamond controls or face a possible loss of its Kimberley status,” Runci said. It is that kind of tight control over the system that Kimberley needed to assert.”

Runci also commended a Kimberley Process pledge to forge closer partnerships with alluvial mining countries and stay updated on initiatives that address development issues in those places.

JA also supports the diamond industry’s call for effective and credible government oversight of industry compliance with Kimberley standards, which KP participants promised would be forthcoming.

JCK