Written question asked by Keith Vaz (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 February 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 16 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 assessment he has made of the effect of the mining of and trade in conflict diamonds on West African economies; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: Diamond production and trade is just one of the factors that impacts upon West African economies. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is 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. Under the terms of the Peer Review Mechanism within the KPCS, a Review Visit has been carried out in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Togo, while ad-hoc missions have been carried out in Liberia and specific monitoring measures are in place with regard to the conflict diamond situation in Cote d'Ivoire. These measures, together with those being undertaken via the three-year review process for the KPCS that is due to report in July 2006, have provided the KPCS, and the participants thereof, with an assessment of the impact of the Kimberley Process in addressing the issue of conflict diamonds upon West African economies. Sanctions have also proved a useful tool in restricting the flow of conflict diamonds.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 53166; 443 c294W;443 c294W
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Armed conflict Certification Economic situation Monitoring Trade Diamonds West Africa
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk