Zim, SA, India whip US into line
Sunday, 12 May 2013 00:00
Itai Mazire
Zimbabwe scored a major diplomatic victory at the World Diamond Council (WDC) annual meeting in Israel last week after several key stakeholders in the international diamond industry resisted fresh attempts by the United States government to keep Marange diamonds outside the formal world market.
US government representatives at the meeting were left with egg on the face after mining ministers from Zimbabwe, South Africa, India and other diamond manufacturing centres joined forces in castigating the Americans for attempting to create a “super” Kimberley Process aimed at keeping Marange diamonds outside the formal world market.
According to the latest diamond intelligence briefs released last week, Africa and India pushed the Americans into a tight corner.
“During the WDC annual meeting, producer nations, including the mining ministers of Zimbabwe, South Africa, India and other diamond manufacturing centres (representing by volume well over 90 percent of the global manufacturing capacity), lashed out at these self-appointed guardians (US) of their version of ‘social responsibility’ for walking time and again a ‘secretive’, ‘behind the back’ road without engaging in constructive dialogue,” wrote Israeli diamond analyst Chaim Even-Zohar in one of the briefs.
The attempts to usurp the powers of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in order to impose further restrictions on Zimbabwe began a month ago in Washington DC and Dubai.
The restrictions were modelled by US government conflict diamond advisor Brad Brooks-Rubin who proposed that the Organisation for Economic and Co-operation Development (OECD) should be engaged in determining the expansion of the definition of conflict diamonds.
OECD is an international economic organisation of 34 countries with an objective to stimulate economic progress and world trade.
According to information gathered by The Sunday Mail, Brad Brooks-Rubin created what diamond analysts have dubbed “the Brad Teleconferencing Group”.
Through this teleconferencing network, the US has been communicating with officials from the United Kingdom foreign affairs office, the Canadian government and several officials from the European Commission to bar the sale of Marange diamonds by engaging the OECD.
In Washington DC, the group is said to have been joined by US and Canada-based members in the diamond and jewellery industry and resolved that diamonds from Marange were not “from a responsible supply chain”.
Speaking at the WDC meeting, Mines and Mining Development Minister Dr Obert Mpofu took a swipe at the West and the OECD, labelling them as a threat to Africa.
“We call for the lifting of sanctions from our diamond fields. We believe there are people around the world who still think they control certain sovereignties in Africa,” he said.
“Let me warn them that we are not going to accept that and we will resist the recent developments by the OECD which are intended to duplicate and create a rival system to the KP exclusively for the developed economies.
“This only serves to widen the gap between the North and South and we do not allow such manoeuvres to succeed.”
His South African counterpart, Susan Shabangu, said the West and the OECD should be transparent in their dealings with other KP members.
She said even the South African government had noted the dodgy partnership between Western countries and OECD.
Ministry of Mines and Mining Development legal advisor Mr Farai Mutamangira, who also attended the meeting, said the US government and its allies were seeking alternative ways of barring the sale of Marange diamonds after realising the entire diamond community was now working with Zimbabwe.
Labels: DIAMONDS, WORLD DIAMOND COUNCIL
Read more...
US admits sanctions hurt Zim economy
Saturday, 17 November 2012 00:22
Hebert Zharare and Farirai Machivenyika
The admission comes after the World Diamond Council said it was also engaging the US government and the European Union to lift sanctions they imposed on Marange diamonds, despite Zimbabwe having received the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme nod to export the gems.
THE United States government has, for the first time, admitted that the illegal sanctions it imposed on Zimbabwe were hurting ordinary people and the economy.
Incoming US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr David Bruce Wharton made the admission yesterday at a media roundtable discussion in Harare and pledged to work with authorities in Zimbabwe and the US to normalise relations.
The admission comes after the World Diamond Council said it was also engaging the US government and the European Union to lift sanctions they imposed on Marange diamonds, despite Zimbabwe having received the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme nod to export the gems.
Speaking in Victoria Falls this week during the inaugural Zimbabwe Diamond Conference, president of the WDC, Mr Eli Izhakoff, said the scrapping of the embargoes was the only way the KP’s integrity would be preserved.
So far, firms wishing to buy Marange diamonds have lost US$30 million which was intercepted by the US Treasury’s Office for Foreign Assets Control.
Said Mr Wharton: “Sanctions do harm. I do not dismiss or diminish the importance of sanctions, that is why I am so eager to work with the people of Zimbabwe, with the Government of Zimbabwe and with the people back in Washington so that we move beyond sanctions to return us to a normal bilateral relationship which I believe will be to the benefit of both countries.
“I think that sanctions do depress the value of Zimbabwe’s diamonds, I don’t know (by) how much,” he said.
“I have seen a lot of very different numbers about the effects of sanctions on the revenues from Zimbabwe’s diamond industry, but I think there is some effect, a negative effect.”
Over the years, successive US ambassadors have denied that sanctions were hurting ordinary people, arguing that they were targeted at a few individuals and entities they are accusing of undermining the rule of law.
Mr Wharton, who presented his credentials to President Mugabe on Thursday, said he intended to bring high-level officials from his government to assess the situation on the ground.
“That is my goal (to normalise relations) it is not something I can do alone. I have to work with my colleagues in Washington. There are people of various opinions in Washington and I need to work very closely with the Government of Zimbabwe and people of Zimbabwe in order to paint an accurate, clear and confidence-building picture of Zimbabwe so that we can move beyond sanctions,” Mr Wharton said.
He added: “It is important, though this is my own ambition, to bring high-level American leaders -- political leaders --- to Zimbabwe. I think it is important; the more people from Washington (who) come here and see what is going on, the better.
“I will certainly suggest to the White House that Zimbabwe would welcome (US) President (Barack) Obama, but that decision will rest in Washington but I know I can get some important American leaders here,” Ambassador Wharton said.
He, however, said it was important that Zimbabwe implemented the Global Political Agreement in its entirety and also respected the values of the liberation struggle.
The US envoy, who once worked at the US Embassy between 1990 and 2003 in the public affairs section, said he would not use his past experiences on assessing the situation in Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, on the diamonds sanctions, the WDC president Mr Izhakoff said; “Zimbabwe’s diamonds should be allowed to be exported without restrictions. I want to engage the United States of America Treasury Department and the European Union to lift some sanctions imposed on diamonds from Zimbabwe. When I go back I want to convince my board of directors to allow me to do that,” he said.
Zimbabwe has attained the KP full membership after being certified to sell Marange diamonds after fulfilling the body’s requirements.
Mr Izhakoff commented after Minister Mpofu and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation chairman Mr Goodwills Masimirembwa gave some incisive presentations that convinced all the delegates on the need to have the embargoes scrapped.
The US government is taking advantage of the fact that all money wired to any country or organisation the world over in US dollars passes through its Treasury Department and OFAC makes sure money is not sent to Zimbabwe.
The ZMDC and the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe are targets of the OFAC sanctions because they are Zimbabwe Government’s investment arms.
The ZMDC has shares in all companies mining diamonds in Marange.
The delegates attending the diamonds conference held under the theme; “Unlocking Zimbabwe’s Diamonds Together,” were unanimous that it was suicidal for the KP not allow a country that had almost two million hectares infested with rough diamonds not to sell the gems.
According to experts the country had potential to produce between 110 and 160 million carats per year, about 20 to 25 percent of the world’s diamond output.
Delegates were unanimous that Zimbabwe was going to receive fair treatment from the KP when South Africa assumes the chairmanship of the gems regulatory body next year.
The Zimbabwe diamonds are likely to dominate debate during the KP intercessory meeting in the United States this year.
Labels: AMBASSADOR, DAVID WHARTON, SANCTIONS, WORLD DIAMOND COUNCIL, ZDERA
Read more...
World Diamond Council boss on Marange 'progress'
31/10/2011 00:00:00
by Eli Izhakoff
SPEAKING during the opening session of the 2011 plenary meeting of the Kimberley Process, which began today in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eli Izhakoff, the president of the World Diamond Council (WDC), noted that meaningful progress has been made in recent weeks toward agreement on exports from the Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe, and he urged the forum to move forward with a renewed sense of urgency.
The following is the full text of his speech:
The esteemed chair of the Kimberley Process, Mr. Mathieu Yamba, His Excellency, the Minister for International Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of th Congo, Mr. Raymond Tshibanda, His Excellency, the Minister for Mines of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Martin Kabwelulu, Her Excellency, the Minister of Mineral Resources of the Republic of South Africa, Ms. Susan Shabangu, His Excellency, the Minister of Minister of Mines and Mining Development of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Mr. Obert Mpofu, His Excellency, the Minister for Mines of the Central African Republic, Lieutenant Colonel Sylvain Ndoutingaï, delegates and distinguished guests:
We gather for a second time this year in Kinshasa in an atmosphere that is very different to the one that permeated the intersessional meeting earlier this year. Enormous progress has been achieved towards an agreement that has been fine-tuned over the past few weeks. This progress has created an opportunity for this forum to declare that the KP has succeeded in building a bridge over the obstacles that have stood in its way for more than two years.
On behalf of the World Diamond Council, I would like to extend my thanks to our hosts, the KP chair, Mathieu Yamba, who with the strong support of the government of the DRC and his dedicated staff, has worked relentlessly in managing the Kimberley Process since the start of this year. You began your term in office in the most difficult of circumstances, but you managed to hold this body together while an agreement was being developed. I congratulate you for the role you have played, and for your grace, patience and perseverance.
Allow me to congratulate all of those who were involved in achieving such meaningful progress towards an agreement on exports from mining operations in the Marange diamond fields.
The European Union deserves special mention for taking the lead, and navigating a path through the forest that had frustrated us for so long.
Let me also offer our thanks to the African countries, and in particular the South Africans led by Minister Susan Shabangu, for all that they did in enabling this agreement.
The government of Zimbabwe and, in particular, Minister Obert Mpofu, is also congratulated, not least for their insistence on staying the course and searching for an agreement within the framework of the Kimberley Process, and so is the United States, which also showed its flexibility in making the accord possible.
Our thanks also go out to all the other individuals and organizations who dedicated time and a great deal of effort in achieving the meaningful progress to date.
It will come as no surprise to anybody that I had prepared a different speech for this plenary meeting, and it was one that I happily tore up several days ago. In that speech, I had urged us to remember what had brought us together as a family, drawn to one another by circumstance and a united purpose.
We always were a most unlikely coalition, grouping under one roof representatives of government, business and civil society. But, because we understood that the mission that united us was larger than the differences that separated us, like family, we were able to stick together.
What we need to do now is to move forward with a renewed sense of urgency, and tackle those issues that were sidelined or shelved, largely because of the Marange dilemma.
The reform of the Kimberley Process is among the most important of these issues. Among the reforms that we urge be considered is the appointment of a professional staff, whose task it will be to manage the daily affairs of the Kimberley Process, and so provide the system with a more sturdy management structure, more erective internal and external communications and a greater degree of continuity.
The current situation, in which every 12 months the responsibility for both leadership and administration shifts to another country, is inherently disruptive. As I have said in the past, like a government whose civil service keeps the wheel turning even when the elected leadership changes, so should be the case with the Kimberley Process.
The fact that since the start of this year there was no Kimberley Process vice chair underscores the fragile nature of the Kimberley Process in the absence of a professional staff. As things stand right now, there is no real contingency for an uncertain transfer of power, whatever the cause. We have to remedy the situation, by providing the Kimberley Process with a more robust structure.
I recognize that, even with the hopefully successful resolution of the issue concerning exports of diamonds from Marange, we have not eliminated all the challenges that confront this body, and neither the legitimate differences in opinion and approach that separates its members. But what I do fervently hope is that an agreement confirms our commitment to meet these challenges and bridge our differences through dialogue, respect and a shared dedication of purpose.
The past two years have been tough, certainly, but they also provided us all with the opportunity to learn some valuable lessons. What we are certainly are more aware of today is that, when the diamond sector plays a prominent role in a country's economy, the stakes are not only commercial. Control over natural resources is also is associated with issues of national pride, identity and independence.
But every delegate in this room has to consider the sentiments and sensitivities in the country, region and organization from which they come. Thus, while we all have to be perceptive of our constituents' grass roots concerns, we also must recognize the need to be sensitive to the concerns of our counterpart's constituents.
I believe it is fair to accept that there are always going to be areas in which we do not see eye to eye. But I also believe it is possible to agree about several goals. And that is that diamonds should be mined, processed and sold in an ethical manner, and that the proceeds of that activity fairly benefit all participants and stakeholders in the chain of distribution, and most importantly the individuals and communities in the diamond producing areas.
That is the objective. That is what we should be moving toward. The Kimberley Process is not a goal unto itself - it is a means to that end.
By definition the Kimberley Process is a process, meaning that solutions can be found that enable us to meet our objectives not necessarily in an instant, but rather over time. It is possible that that we agree about the common objective, while at the same that time understand that circumstances may prevent us from all moving forward on our chosen paths at the same pace. What is important is that, ultimately, we are all able to complete the journey.
As members of the diamond industry we are not only observers of the process, but we straddle the length of the entire pipeline, and are intimately involved both in the producing countries and in the consuming markets.
As businesspeople we are obliged to consider the positions of both our suppliers and our clients, for we cannot survive without the support of either. What we have learned over the past decade and implemented at the grass roots level is a modus operandi that supports the development of new and sustainable economic opportunity in the diamond producing regions, and at the same time responds to consumer demand that the diamonds we sell were sourced and produced in an ethical manner. We do not consider these two tasks as being divergent, but rather as being complementary.
I do not suggest that any of this could have been achieved without a robust and efficient Kimberley Process - on the contrary, the Kimberley Process Certification System is a key component in our strategy. But what I am saying is that have we have not been sitting idly by.
Over the past several years, companies from our industry have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in establishing factories in the mining countries, and in the consumer markets an industry-initiated effort is promoting the development of a monitored system to ensure the integrity of the jewelry chain of distribution.
The efforts that I refer to have been undertaken voluntarily, not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it makes good commercial sense. "Ethical business," ladies and gentlemen, is most definitely not an oxymoron.
So, in the spirit of the proposed agreement, let us move forward, swiftly and decisively. We cannot afford to do otherwise, for too many people are depending upon us.
Labels: KIMBERLEY PROCESS, MARANGE DIAMOND FIELDS, WORLD DIAMOND COUNCIL
Read more...
Fighting talk from Zimbabwe as KP stalemates
by Staff Reporter
05/11/2010 00:00:00
ZIMBABWE sent out a defiant message on Thursday after the Kimberley Process broke off talks about the certification of Marange diamonds in Israel without an agreement. Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said the country would not be held hostage by Canada, the United States and Australia – the fiercest opponents of Zimbabwe’s push to be allowed to freely sell Marange diamonds.
“These are our God-given resources and we will do with them what we feel is best for our people,” Mpofu said. Zimbabwe says it has met all the certification standards set by the KP, a 75-nation global body responsible for ending the trade of “blood” diamonds which are often used to fund wars across Africa.
Kimberley Process chairman, Boaz Hirsch, head of foreign trade division at Israel’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour, ended the four-day meeting in Jerusalem after delegates failed to reach consensus to allow the exports from Zimbabwe.
“It’s an agreement that comes to portray the complex reality that was displayed in the review mission report,” Hirsch said. “There are a small number of countries that are still in consultation with their capitals. We had deadlines and the plenary has ended, but we do hope to reach a consensus in the coming days.”
Hirsch declined to disclose details of the agreement being considered but explained that the negotiations have focused on presenting an agreement that reflects the findings of a KP review mission.
The review mission was in Zimbabwe in August, but disputes among participants delayed publication of the final report until Friday last week, just before the plenary. Zimbabwe has 30 days to reply to the recommendations.
The report recommended that Zimbabwe’s planned sale of existing rough stockpile should depend upon progress made in the implementation of the joint working plan.
Critically, the review mission was of the opinion that the KP should favourably consider the sale. The compliance report reiterated though that the Kimberley Process monitor to Zimbabwe should inspect Marange diamonds before a legal sale can take place.
One Kimberley Process participant, who requested anonymity, noted that while the plenary failed to reach consensus, there were also no clear objections -- indicating that Zimbabwe could find a technical loophole to make the exports.
Hirsch stressed that this is not the case though, and that the country is still under obligations set out by the Swakopmund agreement, signed in November 2009, whereby Marange diamonds would still be subject to the signature of the monitor for Marange, Abbey Chikane.
Hirsch noted that it was up to individual member countries to uphold the Kimberley Process principles should Zimbabwe begin exports before an agreement is reached.
Eli Izhakoff, president of the World Diamond Council (WDC), which represents the diamond industry at the Kimberley Process, said the organisation’s position has always been “an inclusive one” rather than advocating expulsion or the possibility of allowing diamonds to penetrate the market outside the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
He declined to speculate what action the WDC would take if Zimbabwe exports begin before a decision is made.
Hirsch dismissed the possibility of another mini-summit taking place to resolve the issues, as was the case following a June stalemate on Zimbabwe out of Tel Aviv. Subsequently, a min-summit, led by Izhakoff, achieved consensus at a meeting in St Petersburg to allow two KP-monitored auctions.
“We will begin on Friday to aggressively work with those members who have not come to a decision and we remain confident that a final decision will be made soon,” Hirsch said.
But the promise of a resolution to the stand-off soon failed to tamper Zimbabwe’s anger at what it sees as political calculations by the US.
It has emerged that the legal advisor to the Mines Minister, Farai Mutamangira, was shuttling between Mpofu and the American delegation led by the Assistant Secretary of State for Africa affairs, Susan Page, following America's invitation to directly engage with the Zimbabwean delegation.
For a greater part of Thursday, Brad Rusin Brooks, an attorney with the U.S. State Department, was in closed door discussions with Mutamangira.
Attorney General Johannes Tomana, who was in Jerusalem, accused two western-funded NGOs – Global Witness and Partnership Canada – of writing “desk reports meant to please their handlers” after they claimed there was violence on a large scale in Marange.
Tomana said: “The KP review mission report presented to the plenary has certified that the Marange diamond mining operations are compliant with the minimum KPCS requirements.
“It follows, therefore, by logical inference, that our full diamond export diamond status must be restored.”
And Minister Mpofu said Zimbabwe would not be waiting for a green-light from anyone.
He told reporters: “Our compliance must entitle Zimbabwe to immediately and unconditionally export (diamonds).
“It is now clear that the Joint Working Plan is no longer serving the best interest of Zimbabwe. It is now evidently clear that it is being used as a tool to regulate improperly the flow of exports out of Zimbabwe.”
The Democratic Republic of the Congo assumes the role of chairmanship from Israel on January 1, 2011. America is campaigning for the vice presidency.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, DIAMONDS, ELI IZHAKOFF, FARAI MUTAMANGIRA, JOHANNES TOMANA, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, MARANGE DIAMOND FIELDS, OBERT MPOFU, SUSAN PAGE, WORLD DIAMOND COUNCIL
Read more...
