Kimberley Process Intersessional meeting concludes successfully

India, as the KP Chair for 2019, successfully hosted the KP Intersessional meeting in Mumbai. The meeting which started on 17^th June concluded on 21^st June 2019. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) Intersessional Meeting 2019 is an annual mid-year event of KPCS – a tri-partite mechanism that unites participating governments, diamond industry and civil society. KPCS is an international mechanism mandated by UN to reduce the flow of conflict diamonds which were being used to finance wars against legitimate governments.

 Mr. Alok Vardhan Chaturvedi, KP Chair and Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) hosted and addressed over 200 KP delegates from 82 countries including the US, Russian Federation, European Union, Canada, China, Israel, Australia, UAE, and several producing countries from Africa – Sierra Leone, DR Congo, Angola, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Botswana, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Namibia, South Africa, Togo & Lesotho. The Kimberley Process Chairmanship 2019 India event was organized by the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India; and co-organised by Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

 In his concluding speech, Mr. Alok Vardhan Chaturvedi, KP Chair (India) and DGFT, said, “There has been a good exchange and ideas, discussions and deliberations, listening & learning, debates, dialogues in the true KP tradition of productive sharing of ideas to forge the way forward for KP. We are grateful to the global diamond community and the representatives of the civil society coalition for their presence and active participation. The knowledge, experience and expertise that each one of you brings to the table is phenomenal and so is your collective effort. The commitment and contribution to usher in transformational change has been of the highest order.”

Mr. Chaturvedi added, “The highlights of this Intersessional were the special forums on Diamond Terminology and ’Artisanal Mining – Small Steps to Larger Outcomes’. The GemFair session showcased transparency to empower local communities. There were presentations on Indian Government’s Common Facility Centres initiative, which enabled pooling of resources for small and medium jewellery enterprises. There were insightful learnings in the special forums such as the chain of custody by Mumbai’s Dabbawalas and trusted delivery as exemplified by the Angadias. There were presentations on the mapping of the workforce through Parichay ID card and taking care of them through Swathya-Rathna health insurance scheme.”

Mr. Stephane Fischler (President, World Diamond Council) and Mr. Shamiso Mtisi (Coordinator of the KP Civil Society Coalition) also addressed the closing session. Ms. Rupa Dutta, Economic Advisor, Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, proposed the vote of thanks.

The KP session 2019 observed progress in many areas including deepening ongoing discussions on the scope, finalization of Terms of Reference for Permanent Secretariat, draft Administrative Decision (AD) on Peer Review Mechanism, reconciliation guidance document and capturing of data for Artisanal Mining, new independent observer, more clear directions for MDTF and Consolidation of Core Document. KP delegates would again meet in New Delhi for the Plenary session in November 2019.