Officials Propose Measures to End Trade - Feb.2001
Emphasizing America’s focus on eliminating trade of conflict diamonds, President
Bill Clinton addressed the subject on his last day in office. Clinton issued
an executive order to halt Sierra Leone imports without government-authorized
certificates of origin.
At the same time, the World Diamond Council, met in London and asked
the U.S. Congress to back a gem certification system aimed at blocking sales of
conflict diamonds. The law proposed by the WDC would require rough diamonds to
be certified through government documentation that includes the carat weight of
each shipment, along with a registration number. The content could therefore be
identified – reliably – as coming from a legitimate source.
Violators would be fined $250,000 and the U.S. Customs would have authority to
seize illicit shipments. The law would go into effect of Sept. 1.
"This is an international problem that demands an international
solution. We believe there is broad agreement internationally on the principles
on which this proposal is based. Now it is up to governments to run these
principles into law and to enforce the rules vigorously," says Eli
Izhakoff, WDC chairman.
At a recent White House conference, meanwhile, scientists doubted the ability
to positively tag diamonds. Former national security advisor Samuel Berger
called for development of a method for tracing origin of stones over the next 10
years.
However, it is our hope that within 10 years, these civil wars will be over
in diamond mining zones.v
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