The Sixth Annual Meeting of the World Diamond Council (WDC) has concluded, with a commitment to bring the presence of conflict diamonds in the trade to zero. The meeting was attended by over 100 delegates, in the parliamentary chamber of the Province House in Antwerp, hosted by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC). This year was a symbolic gathering at the very same venue where WDC was created in 2000.

Bringing up the recent developments of the Venezuelan government deciding to temporarily withdraw from the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was more due to tax evasion rather than civil conflict, as WDC Chairman Eli Izhakoff said. “The effectiveness of the Kimberley Process in preventing a re-emergence of the conflict diamonds problem is reliant on all participants following a zero tolerance policy. If any participant is unable to do so, then the entire system is undermined. The fact that Venezuela has agreed to take a time out, so that it can consider ways of correcting its regulatory system, is good for the entire Kimberley Process,” he added. This year’s gathering celebrated the fifth year since the launch of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in 2003.

Izhakoff stated in his report to the plenary session, that “The truth of the matter is that the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme has been so successful in monitoring the flow of rough diamonds into the pipeline that we concern ourselves today with essentially a limited number of instances of uncertified goods coming into the market, even though the diamonds in question rarely are sourced from an area experiencing any form of civil conflict. The system will work effectively only if all diamonds are traced, and not only those which are deemed to originate from a conflict zone.” He also said that the scope of the KP Scheme to benefit the human element in terms of improved livelihood is to be further encouraged. “The World Diamond Council played a key role in raising awareness in the industry to the plight of people living in diamond producing areas. This awareness has evolved into an understanding that our industry has a role to play in helping these people develop sustainable economies and social systems, which are not wholly dependent on the salaries earned by miners extracting the diamonds from the ground.”

Vincent Van Quickenborne, Belgium’s Minister of Economic Affairs addressed the opening session, highlighting the advantage of the private sector cooperating with the government. Other key speakers present were Ambassador Karel Kovanda, chairman of the Kimberley Process on behalf of the European Union in 2007 and Dorothée Gizenge executive director at Diamond Development Initiative. The 2009 Annual Meeting of the World Diamond Council will possibly take place in St. Petersburg, Russia.