WGM Chair for 2020-2022 to Botswana!
KP Concludes, Update 3: India the KP Chair Kimberley Process hosted Plenary in New Delhi during November 18th & up to 22nd November 2019 was convened as the Sixteenth Kimberley Process (KP) Plenary Meeting. Delegations from KP Participants and Observers along with the Kyrgyz Republic and State of Qatar attended as Guests of the KP Chair India.
The total number of Participants in the Kimberley Process (KP) now stands at 55 representing 82 countries (including the 28 member states of the European Union, which participates as a single Participant represented by the European Commission).
TheWorking Group on Monitoring (WGM) decided to adopt provisional changes to the operational framework for resumption of exports of rough diamonds from the Central African Republic and the Terms ofReference for the Monitoring Team for the Central African Republic, with the objective of increasing legal exports and maintaining safeguards to stop conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate supply chain.
Plenary welcomed the WGMand Working Group on Artisanal and Alluvial Production (WGAAP) joint session that discussed their close working relationship in the central African region on the implementation of similar modalities in the region as in the Mano River Union (MRU).
The Plenary noted with concern a number of fraudulent certificates that have been reported and subsequently uploaded on the Kimberley Process website as part of information sharing and encouraged Participants to continuously report such certificates in an effort to raise awareness and curb illegal transactions.
Fraudulent certificates should be dealt with in accordance with the internal legal frameworks and Kimberley Process minimum requirements. Plenary encouraged all Participants to provide information on the nature and extent of any fraudulent certificate when reporting to WGM.
Plenary thanked South Africa for leadership of WGM. Plenary endorsed Botswana as the WGM Chair for the period of 2020-2022, and the European Union as the Vice Chair of WGM for the said period.The Plenary welcomed the report of Committee on Participation and Chairmanship (CPC) on the work done in 2019.
The Plenary welcomed the admission of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a Kimberley Process Certification Scheme Participant, with such participation taking effect from the date on which European Union law ceases to apply to and in the United Kingdom.The Plenary noted the applications of Kyrgyz Republic and State of Qatar to join the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
The Plenary noted the continuation of the work of the Committee on Participation and Chairmanship relating to the Participation of Observers in the work of the Kimberley Process.The Plenary noted the commitment of the Committee on Participation and Chairmanship to enforcing the 2005 Administrative Decision on Guidelines for the Participation Committee with respect to statistical non-compliance.
The Plenary welcomed India as the incoming Chair of the Committee on Participation and Chairmanship for 2020.
The Plenary welcomed the report of Working Group on Artisanal and Alluvial Production (WGAAP) on the work done in 2019. The Plenary took note of the high-level workshop held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, to launch the activities of the Regional Cooperation in Central Africa to enhance compliance with the KPCS minimum requirements in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Republic of Cameroon, and Republic of Congo, which included the Republic of Gabon as an Observer.
The Plenary further noted the adoption of an Action Plan to implement the Regional Cooperation in Central Africa and encouraged the Technical Team comprising of South Africa, Botswana, European Union, United States of America, People's Republic of China, Civil Society Coalition, African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA), World Diamond Council (WDC) and Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) to reach out to donors and implementing partners in this respect.
The Plenary welcomed the admission of the Republic of Gabon as a Provisional Member of the Working Group on Artisanal and Alluvial Production; The Plenary took note of the continued progress on the implementation of the Regional Approach Action Plan in the Mano River Union (MRU) countries comprised of Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
Plenary extended its appreciation to the European Union co-funded the project on the implementation of the Kimberley Process Regional Approach in the Mano River Union Countries (MRU) The Plenary noted its extension for 30 months.
The Plenary noted with appreciation the work undertaken by the United States Government’s Artisanal Mining and Property Rights (AMPR) project in the Central African Republic and the European Union’s Governance Strengthening Programme in Artisanal Diamond and Gold Mining Sectors in the Central African Republic (GODICA) project, , to assist this country to reach compliance with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme minimum requirements.
The Plenary further encouraged AMPR project to extend its activities to CAR neighboring countries affected by the situation prevailing in the CAR similar to relevant actions in the Regional Cooperation in Central Africa Action Plan; the Plenary recommended putting in place a communication mechanism to publicize work being done on the ground to enhance compliance with KPCS minimum requirements in ASM countries.
Plenary noted that Working Group on Alluvial and Artisanal Production (WGAAP) and Working Group on Statistics (WGS) held a joint session to discuss disaggregating production of diamonds from Artisanal and Small Scale Mining (ASM) or Large Scale Mining industrial production (LSM). It was agreed that member states should commence reporting ASM production on KP website separately with effect from the 2020.
Plenary noted that WGDE and Working Group on Artisanal and Alluvial Production (WGAAP) jointly led discussion on the confiscation of rough diamonds. Attendees relayed their experiences and provided examples of shipments that were confiscated or delayed.
WDGE and Working Group on Artisanal and Alluvial Production (WGAAP) agreed to compile a list of countries’ policies and procedures and some case studies. Canada agreed to be the point of contact for submissions and drafting a working paper based on responses submitted for discussion by the 2020 Intersessional.
