Written question asked by John Bercow (Conservative) on Monday, 13 February 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 15 February 2006. It was answered by Ian Pearson (Labour) on Monday, 27 February 2006 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Conflict Diamonds

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken by his Department to reduce the trade in conflict diamonds.

Answer: The UK is a Participant of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), a set of politically-binding minimum common standards which control the international trade in rough diamonds, as well as stipulating various levels of transparency, monitoring and co-operation between participants. The Government Diamond Office (GDO), the authority overseeing UK implementation of the KPCS, is a Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The GDO issues certificates for exports of rough diamonds from the UK, collates statistics for the UK trade in rough diamonds and monitors implementation of the KPCS provisions within the UK, including through co-operating with HM Revenue and Customs on inspections of rough diamond shipments.

Secondary information