An open session of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the World Diamond Council (WDC), was organised this morning and was attended by the leading lights of the international diamond industry fraternity and other stakeholders. The AGM, hosted by The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) is being held in Mumbai over October 22 & 23, 2018.

Chairman of the GJEPC, Pramod Kumar Agrawal, in his welcome address stressed the need to balance business development and growth with sustainability vis-a-vis both the environment and the peoples and communities impacted by the industry.

“In my opinion, the world diamond industry should combine and take a pledge to remain on the path of Sustainable Development and include it as a declaration at this AGM,” he said. “A direct conclusion to draw from this pledge is to reform the way we were doing business. I am happy that the reform in SOW is giving direction to such reforms. However, such reforms should be in the direction of self-regulation.”

Agrawal underlined that no amount of regulation can transform the industry if it does not come from within.

He lauded the KP Reform & Review process which, he noted, was progressing well under stewardship of the Committee chaired by India. Agrawal also expressed the hope that the proposed reforms would be adopted this year and implemented in the coming year when India takes over as the KP Chair.

The Chairman went on to outline the concerns of the industry about the United States FTC’s definition of lab-grown and natural diamonds in its revised jewellery guidelines. “GJEPC is of the opinion that the only way to eliminate the confusion regarding the revised terminology   is through a pre-agreed and distinct description for natural and lab-grown diamonds,” he stressed.

He added: “We believe that a single term should be used for natural diamonds, and another term for lab-grown diamonds, and these terms alone should be used by businesses. We further believe that it is important to build agreement on this view and together the world industry should make a strong representation at FTC. At the same, it is important to send the messages to consumers and educate them to avoid confusion.”

Agrawal highlighted the Indian gem & jewellery industry’s long time involvement in CSR activities, saying: “The GJEPC and industry are running many programmes like health Insurance for workers of the industry and their family members. Members of the industry through their CSR activities have also contributed in building hospitals, schools and have done rehabilitation   of general people in case of natural calamities.”

Stephane Fischler, President of the WDC in his address stressed the need to create an ethical environment within the diamond industry. Today there were instances of companies not honouring bank payments, and some people mixing synthetics in parcels of natural diamonds, he said.

“We must pause and take stock of what is happening,” Fischler said.   He recalled the time when he started in business, when a Mazal and his family name were enough guarantees to conduct business. That, and the membership of a bourse, which was almost a rite of passage and which bestowed upon the member the necessary “reputation”.

“Today, our collective reputation is not a fact that can be taken for granted,” he stated. “It has become a question that requires an audit.”

Fischler spoke about the good work done by the Kimberley Process (KP) to curb the spread of conflict diamonds, but stressed that much still remains to be done especially for artisanal and alluvial miners. “We must resist the errors of the past, and rather than looking away we must confront the issues facing us,” he underlined.

He also stressed that the WDC’s System of Warranties (SoW) were formulated with the aim of protecting the interests of the industry and the consumer. He called for broadening the definition of conflict diamonds.

Fischler lauded the Indian diamond industry which was setting an example in giving to society. And while several challenges remain, he noted that the Council is playing a positive role.

Dy Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MoC&I), Government of India, Senthil Nathan, spoke about India’s commitment and contribution to KP of which the country is a founding member.

He said that it was the active involvement and combined efforts of governments, industry and society at large within KP, which had resulted in stemming the flow of conflict diamonds. He added that KP needs to now move to the next level and the current discussion on reforms would no doubt pave the way to achieve this.

Senthil Nathan praised the partnership between the EU (current KP Chair) and India (current KP Vice Chair) in working for KP reforms and to take the organisation to the next level.  

“The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals should be the next focus of KP,” he opined.  

He went on to outline how the Indian government had launched many schemes for employment, skill development and gender equality – all of which were in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN.

EU Ambassador, Plilippe Beke, who was representing KP Chair Hilde Hardeman at the meeting, spoke about how closely EU and India have been working and expressed his thanks to the Council’s Chairman, Executive Director and staff for their contribution.

He said reform was required within KP despite all that it had achieved, to keep it relevant to the present times. Beke stressed that tripartite participation in KP was a must.

“Today Civil Society has again become an active participant of KP. Close co-operation between industry and civil society has been resumed,” he noted.

The highlight of the meeting was a Keynote Address by Swami A. Parthasarthy of Vedanta who expounded on the question of success. In his wide-ranging talk, Swamiji simply but pertinently raised several questions and called upon his listeners to reflect on their goals in a meaningful manner. Neither mere wealth – though he stressed that he was not against prosperity – nor material attributes would bring a person happiness and peace he said.  He propounded that the mind – a repository of feelings desires etc -- should be guided by the intellect. The mind is like a river, Swamiji explained, and the intellect is like the banks on either side which help contain it. If not contained, it would overflow and cause destruction, he cautioned.

Pic caption: Stephane Fischler, President of the WDC addressing the gathering