Russia, the Kimberley Process Chair for 2020 will work closely with the government of the Central African Republic (CAR) to improve its regulation of local diamond production and increase certified exports, according to media reports.

News agency Reuters quoted the KP Chair, Russia’s deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseev as saying that current restrictions were not impacting CAR’s total diamond output, but only ensuring that some bit of the production was being traded illegally. This was not the aim of the KP, he is reported to have pointed out, stating that instead of benefiting local communities, this unofficial trade only generated profits for middlemen.

It may be recalled that exports from CAR were banned by the Kimberley Process in 2013. However, in 2016, after a detailed investigation by a KP Monitoring team, the organisation permitted resumption of exports from five ‘green zones’ where the government was in a position to monitor and certify the parcels.

As a result, official diamond exports fell from US$ 62 million in 2012 to US$ 2.3 million in 2018. Late last year the CAR Government announced steps to improve transparency and proper due diligence protocols in other zones as well.

Moiseev further said that while Russia would be willing to play a role in the process, if mandated by the KP members, it was African countries that should lead the way.

Discussing other priorities as KP Chair, Moiseev said that all KP member nations would be encouraged to adopt legislation that distinguishes between natural and synthetic diamonds, and that KP would consider creation of an electronic database of certificates that document the origin of diamonds and trace their movement across the pipeline.