Portugal’s Tax and Customs Authority has been granted authorisation to inspect, check and asses rough diamonds in a further attempt by international authorities to crack down on the illegal trade in ‘blood diamonds’.
On August 7th "Portugal became part of the secure chain implementing the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for the international trade in rough diamonds in order to counter the trade in blood diamonds," read a statement from Paulo Núncio, the Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs.
The Tax and Customs Authority now is able to qualify the diamonds in the import and export trade in Portugal and make sure they are in accordance with international rules designed to protect the producing countries and deter the trade in conflict diamonds, many of which carry certification but are in fact from war zones.
In addition to the Tax and Customs Authority the certification scheme involves Portugal's Directorate General of Economic Activities (DGAE) and Portugal’s Mint, the Imprensa Nacional-Casa Moeda, as its staff are skilled in the highly technical analyses of materials.
This new certification "establishes the legal conditions necessary for the development of this new economic sector in Portugal, reinforcing and combating the illicit trade in diamonds," the statement concluded.
Blood diamonds, or conflict diamonds, are diamonds mined in war zones such as during the recent civil wars in Angola, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, among other producing nations.
The diamonds mined in such zones are sold to finance continuing strife and bloodshed.
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was adopted internationally on July 19, 2000 at the World Diamond Congress in Antwerp. The agreement was designed to strengthen the diamond industry's ability to block sales of conflict diamonds.
The resolution called for an international certification system on the export and import of diamonds, legislation in all countries to accept only officially sealed packages of diamonds, for countries to impose criminal charges on anyone trafficking in conflict diamonds, and instituted a ban on any individual found trading in conflict diamonds from the diamond bourses of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.
In transit countries like Dubai, Portugal and the United Kingdom gemstone now must have an accompanying Kimberley Certificate which must be presented by the gem's owner or lawyer.
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was given approval by the UN in 2002, and adopted by governments, diamond producers, and Non-Government Organizations.
The Kimberley Process curtails the flow of conflict diamonds, helps stabilise fragile producing countries and support their development.
As the Kimberley Process has made life harder for criminals, it has brought large volumes of diamonds onto the legal market that would not otherwise have made it there.
This has increased the revenues of poor governments, and helped them to address their countries’ development challenges. For instance, around $125 million worth of diamonds were legally exported from Sierra Leone in 2006, compared to almost none at the end of the 1990s.
The Kimberley Process may have failed to stem the flow of blood diamonds as there is no guarantee that diamonds with a Kimberley Process Certification are in fact conflict-free. This is due to the nature of the corrupt government officials in the leading diamond producing countries where bribery is rife.
Portugal's ability now to inspect and asses diamonds may stop the trade through the country but inevitably will move it elsewhere.
