IS THERE A FUTURE FOR THE KIMBERLEY PROCESS CERTIFICATION SCHEME FOR CONFLICT DIAMONDS?

The Kimberley Process is a system of international soft law intended to regulate the trade in conflict diamonds. It has been in operation since 2003, and involves states, industry bodies and civil society. States undertake to certify diamonds in trade as conflict-free and to have adequate internal controls over the production and trade in diamonds. While the Kimberley Process has been effective in reducing the trade in diamonds to fund armed rebellion against governments, it seems unable to meet recent challenges. Some states in the Process, notably Côte d'Ivoire, Venezuela and Zimbabwe, have not been compliant with their undertakings, yet the Process has been unable to achieve consensus for decisions to sanction non-compliant members. Consensus has also proved elusive in the effort to expand the definition of conflict diamonds to address the wide range of human rights abuses that may be associated with diamond mining. As new international regimes to address the problem of conflict minerals have been developed in recent years, it is now time to question whether the Kimberley Process has a future role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]