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Written question asked by Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative) on Monday, 30 April 2012.

Kimberley Process

Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make proposals for amending the rules of the Kimberley Process so as to protect taxpayers in diamond-producing states from the illegal diversion of public revenue to private individuals, and to ensure transparency of ownership of mining companies.
Answer

The Kimberley Process (KP) is an international trade regulation scheme that was set up to tackle the problem of rebel groups trading in rough diamonds to fund armed conflicts, and to prevent the violence associated with such conflicts. Whilst we are working to strengthen the KP's role in preventing conflict, including by arguing that it should take human rights abuses more explicitly into account, we do not propose to expand the KP's mandate to cover revenue transparency and governance, because other mechanisms exist to address these issues. However, although it is not formally part of the KP's mandate, the KP does play a helpful role in shining a light on revenue flows by providing information on diamond sales and exports. This can help Governments collect the taxes and royalties owed to them. The UK is a strong supporter of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which helps to promote transparency and accountability around the use of natural resource wealth in developing countries, including from diamonds. This can help minimise the risk of illegal diversion of public revenue to private individuals. Our support for EITI has contributed to the reporting of over 500 billion United States dollars (USD) in government revenues in 29 countries around the world and the reporting by over 150 companies of 130 billion USD in revenues in Africa between 2003 and 2008. Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development also provide advice and support to governments around the world on governance of the extractive sector with the aim of increasing transparency and good governance. This includes supporting work in the mining sector by the World Bank focusing on revenue transparency and International Monetary Fund work on anti-money laundering measures.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
16855; 736 c409-10WA
Session
2010-12
Subjects
Disclosure of information Developing countries Income Ownership Mining Diamonds
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk