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Zim: Kimberley Process ignores its own advice
JOHANNESBURG: Zimbabwe's rough diamond trade has escaped a six-month suspension by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) - an international initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds - after its own investigating team recommended earlier in 2009 that the country be temporarily barred from importing and exporting the gems.
No consensus on Zimbabwe's suspension could be reached at the annual plenary, said Annie Dunnebacke, of Global Witness - a UK-based NGO that seeks to prevent the use of natural resources to fuel conflict, and a prime mover in setting up the KPCS - who described the meeting in the Namibian coastal town of Swakopmund, as "the most disorganised plenary session ever held."
The KPCS, established in 2002, brings together governments, the diamond industry and concerned NGOs to police the trade in conflict diamonds, also known as blood diamonds. The organisation has 49 members representing 75 countries, and covers about 99.8% of the global production of rough diamonds.
