(Rapaport…November 6, 2002) The British Foreign Office will set up a diamonds department to ensure compliance with the Kimberley Process nonconflict diamond certification plan, the Financial Times of London reported yesterday.
Britain will leave the penalties for noncompliance to the industry, the report said. But an unnamed government source added, “For the first time, we will be looking at consignments. If something doesn’t pass the smell test, it will be confiscated.”
Nations agreeing to the Kimberley Process are each to set up their own system of auditable controls. In the United States, the world’s largest importer, any firm caught wrongly certifying diamonds will be charged with violating its Customs declaration.