H.R. 2722
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Clean Diamond Trade Act”.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Funds derived from the sale of rough diamonds are being used by rebels and state actors to finance military activities, overthrow legitimate governments, subvert international efforts to promote peace and stability, and commit horrifying atrocities against unarmed civilians. During the past decade, more than 6,500,000 people from Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been driven from their homes by wars waged in large part for control of diamond mining areas. A million of these are refugees eking out a miserable existence in neighboring countries, and tens
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of thousands have fled to the United States. Approximately 3,700,000 people have died during these wars.
(2) The countries caught in this fighting are home to nearly 70,000,000 people whose societies have been torn apart not only by fighting but also by terrible human rights violations.
(3) Human rights advocates, the diamond trade as represented by the World Diamond Council, and the United States Government recently began working to block the trade in conflict diamonds. Their efforts have helped to build a consensus that action is urgently needed to end the trade in conflict diamonds.
(4) The United Nations Security Council has acted at various times under chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations to address threats to international peace and security posed by conflicts linked to diamonds. Through these actions, it has prohibited all states from exporting weapons to certain countries affected by such conflicts. It has further required all states to prohibit the direct and indirect import of rough diamonds from Angola and Sierra Leone unless the diamonds are controlled under specified certificate of origin regimes and to prohibit absolutely for a period of 12 months the direct and indirect import of rough diamonds from Liberia.
(5) In response, the United States implemented sanctions restricting the importation of rough diamonds from Angola and Sierra Leone to those diamonds accompanied by specified certificates of origin and fully prohibiting the importation of rough diamonds from Liberia. In order to put an end to the emergency situation in international relations, to maintain international peace and security, and to protect its essential security interests, and pursuant to its obligations under the United Nations Charter, the United States is now taking further action against trade in conflict diamonds.
(6) Without effective action to eliminate trade in conflict diamonds, the trade in legitimate diamonds faces the threat of a consumer backlash that could damage the economies of countries not involved in the trade in conflict diamonds and penalize members of the legitimate trade and the people they employ. To prevent that, South Africa and more than 30 other countries are involved in working, through the “Kimberley Process”, toward devising a solution to this problem. As the consumer of a majority of the world’s supply of diamonds, the United States has an obligation to help sever the link between diamonds and conflict and press for implementation of an effective solution.
(7) Failure to curtail the trade in conflict diamonds or to differentiate between the trade in conflict diamonds and the trade in legitimate diamonds could have a severe negative impact on the legitimate diamond trade in countries such as Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Tanzania.
(8) Initiatives of the United States seek to resolve the regional conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa which facilitate the trade in conflict diamonds.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) CONFLICT DIAMONDS.–The term “conflict diamonds” means rough diamonds the import of which is prohibited by United Nations Security Council Resolutions because that trade is fueling conflict.
(2) DIAMONDS.–The term “diamonds” means diamonds classifiable under subheading 7102.31.00 or subheading 7102.39.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
(3) POLISHED DIAMONDS.–The term “polished diamonds” means diamonds classifiable under subheading 7102.39.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
(4) ROUGH DIAMONDS.–The term “rough diamonds” means diamonds that are unworked, or simply sawn, cleaved, or bruted, classifiable under subheading 7102.31.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
(5) UNITED STATES.–The term “United States”, when used in the geographic sense, means the several States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States.
SEC. 4. MEASURES TO PREVENT IMPORTS OF CONFLICT DIAMONDS.
(a) AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENT.–The President may prohibit, in whole or in part, imports of rough diamonds into the United States from any country that does not take effective measures to stop trade in conflict diamonds as long as the prohibition is–
(1) necessary to protect the essential security interests of the United States, or pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolutions on conflict diamonds; and
(2) consistent with the foreign policy interests of the United States, including the international obligations of the United States.
(b) EFFECTIVE MEASURES.–For purposes of this Act, effective measures are measures that–
(1) meet the requirements of United Nations Security Council Resolutions on trade in conflict diamonds;
(2) meet the requirements of an international arrangement on conflict diamonds as long as the measures also meet the requirements of United Nations Security Council Resolutions on trade in conflict diamonds; or
(3) contain the following elements, or their functional equivalent, if such elements are sufficient to meet the requirements of United Nations Security Council Resolutions on trade in conflict diamonds:
(A) With respect to exports from countries where rough diamonds are extracted, secure packaging, accompanied by officially validated documentation certifying the country of origin, total carat weight, and value.
(B) With respect to exports from countries where rough diamonds are extracted, a system of verifiable controls on rough diamonds from mine to export.
(C) With respect to countries that reexport rough diamonds, a system of controls designed to ensure that no conflict diamonds have entered the legitimate trade in rough diamonds.
(D) Verifiable recordkeeping by all companies and individuals engaged in mining, import, and export of rough diamonds within the territory of the exporting country, subject to inspection and verification by authorized government authorities in accordance with national regulations.
(E) Government publication on a periodic basis of official rough diamond export and import statistics.
(F) Implementation of proportionate and dissuasive penalties against any persons who violate laws and regulations designed to combat trade in conflict diamonds.
(G) Full cooperation with the United Nations or other official international bodies examining the trade in conflict diamonds, especially with respect to any inspection and monitoring of the trade in rough diamonds.
(c) EXCLUSIONS.–The provisions of this section do not apply to–
(1) rough diamonds imported by or on behalf of a person for personal use and accompanying a person upon entry into the United States;
(2) rough diamonds previously exported from the United States and reimported by the same importer, without having been advanced in value or improved in condition by any process or other means while abroad, if the importer declares that the reimportation of the rough diamonds satisfies the requirements of this paragraph; or
(3) rough diamonds for which the importer provides evidence to the satisfaction of the United States Customs Service (or analogous officials of a territory or possession of the United States with its own customs administration) that the importation does not include conflict diamonds.
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF POLISHED DIAMONDS AND JEWELRY.
The President may prohibit specific entries of polished diamonds and jewelry containing diamonds if the President has credible evidence that such polished diamonds and jewelry were produced with conflict diamonds.
SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT.
Diamonds and jewelry containing diamonds imported into the United States in violation of any prohibition imposed under section 4 or 5 are subject to the seizure and forfeiture laws, and all criminal and civil laws of the United States shall apply, to the same extent as any other violation of the customs and navigation laws of the United States.
SEC. 7. REPORTS.
(a) ANNUAL REPORTS.–Not later than one year after the effective date of this Act, and every 12 months thereafter, the President shall transmit to Congress a report–
(1) describing actions taken by countries that have exported rough diamonds to the United States during the preceding 12-month period to implement effective measures to stop trade in conflict diamonds;
(2) identifying those countries that have exported rough diamonds to the United States during the preceding 12-month period and are not implementing effective measures to stop trade in conflict diamonds and whose failure to do so has significantly increased the likelihood that conflict diamonds are being imported into the United States;
(3) describing appropriate actions, which may include actions under sections 4 and 5, that may be taken by the United States, or actions that may be taken or are being taken by each country identified under paragraph (2), to ensure that conflict diamonds are not being imported into the United States from such country; and
(4) identifying any additional countries involved in conflicts linked to rough diamonds that are not the subject of United Nations Security Council Resolutions on conflict diamonds.
(b) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS.–For each country identified in subsection (a)(2), the President shall, every 6 months after the initial report in which the country was identified, transmit to Congress a report that explains what actions have been taken by the United States or such country since the previous report to ensure that conflict diamonds are not being imported from that country into the United States. The requirement to issue a semiannual report with respect to a country under this subsection shall remain in effect until such time as the country implements effective measures.
SEC. 8. GAO REPORT.
Not later than 3 years after the effective date of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall transmit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of the provisions of this Act in preventing the importation of conflict diamonds under section 4. The Comptroller General shall include in the report any recommendations on any modifications to this Act that may be necessary.
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SEC. 9. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) INTERNATIONAL ARRANGEMENT.–It is the sense of Congress that the President should take the necessary steps to negotiate an international arrangement, working in concert with the Kimberley Process referred to in section 2(6), to eliminate the trade in conflict diamonds. Such an international arrangement should create an effective global system of controls covering countries that export and import rough diamonds, and should contain the elements described in section 4(b)(3).
(b) ADDITIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS.–It is the sense of Congress that the President should take the necessary steps to seek United Nations Security Council Resolutions with respect to trade in diamonds from additional countries identified under section 7(a)(4).
(c) TRADE IN LEGITIMATE DIAMONDS.–It is the sense of Congress that the provisions of this Act should not impede the trade in legitimate diamonds with countries which are working constructively to eliminate trade in conflict diamonds, including through the negotiation of an effective international arrangement to eliminate trade in conflict diamonds.
(d) IMPLEMENTATION OF EFFECTIVE MEASURES.–It is the sense of Congress that companies involved in diamond extraction and trade should make financial contributions to countries seeking to implement any effective measures to stop trade in conflict diamonds described in section 4(b), if those countries would have financial difficulty implementing those measures.
SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the President $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 and 2003 to provide assistance to countries seeking to implement any effective measures to stop trade in conflict diamonds described in section 4(b), if those countries would have financial difficulty implementing those measures.
SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.