(Rapaport… March 2, 2003) Breaching its own free trade principles, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has agreed to allow 11 Kimberley Process members to halt trade in rough diamonds with non- Kimberly participants.
Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and the U.S requested a waiver from The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) rules to be able to refuse trading in rough diamonds with non- Kimberly participants.
The WTO Council for Trade in Goods recognized “the extraordinary humanitarian nature of this issue and the devastating impact of conflicts fuelled by trade in conflict diamonds on the peace, safety and security of people in affected countries and the systematic and gross human rights violations that have been perpetrated in such conflicts.”
From January 1, 2003 until December 31, 2006, the waiver exempts these countries, and others that might subsequently join, from GATT provisions on: most-favored-nation treatment; elimination of quantitative restrictions and nondiscriminatory administration of quantitative restrictions.