KP And WDC Heads Sign Renewal Of Admin Mechanism In Antwerp

(IDEX Online News) – Kimberley Process Chair Wei Chuanzhong and Angolan Vice-Chair Bernardo Campos renewed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the KP's Administrative Support Mechanism (ASM) at a signing ceremony with Edward Asscher, President of the World Diamond Council, at the Antwerp World Diamond Centre's (AWDC) offices.

The KP's Plenary meeting in 2012 designated the World Diamond Council through its members, the AWDC, the Israel Diamond Institute, India's GJEPC and the Ghana Government Diamond House as the hosts of the ASM. The mechanism was designed to increase the efficiency of the KP and to assist the rotating KP chairperson. AWDC was entrusted with the responsibility of running the ASM’s daily operations.

The signing ceremony was held in the presence of AWDC President Stéphane Fischler and AWDC CEO Ari Epstein. The MoU sets out the expectations of the KP Chair and the ASM host organization, and the renewal of the MoU reflects the KP Plenary’s and the KP Chair’s continued confidence in the ASM, the AWDC said in a statement. 

Asscher and Wei Chuanzhong also held talks on several issue, such as the need for an level playing field for industry members and ensuring compliance with KP requirements is enforced on a global scale, the AWDC reported.

The AWDC stressed that the KP is a highly effective mechanism in assisting countries in meeting minimum requirements and in creating opportunities for diamond-producing countries to reap the benefits from their natural resources.

The Antwerp diamond industry representative organization requested the KP Chair to actively support the development dimension of the KP, for example by developing or supporting technical assistance projects.

In addition, the AWDC reiterated that the debate on a KP reform, initiated and supported by the KP Chair, should be based on the founding principles of the KP of inclusiveness, a tri-partite structure and a bottom-up process.

AWDC also requested the Chairman to initiate the written procedure to allow the participating countries to resume the import of rough diamonds from the Ivory Coast.

The AWDC also urged the KP and all its members to make sure that no diamonds from the Central African Republic CAR enter the legal flow, and that these illicit diamonds are not illegitimately certified in their countries.