RAPAPORT… The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) has eased limitations it set on Ghana allowing the west African country to export diamonds on a daily basis, rather than monthly.
Ghana has only been permitted to export diamonds once a month since November 2006, and under KPCS supervision, after suspicions were raised about rough diamonds from Cote d’Ivoire making their way into Ghana for legitimate export.
A KPCS technical team visited Ghana in March 2007 to assess the country’s compliance with the scheme’s action plan to clear those concerns, and recently published its findings from the visit. KPCS sources told Rapaport News that the audit showed that Ghana should be allowed to continue exports on a daily basis, but still in the framework of KPCS supervision.
As such, the country is compelled to send digital images of all its exported diamonds to the KPCS, in a similar way that technical experts would meet in Ghana to examine its monthly assortments.
Ghana also committed to register all its informal miners as part of the KPCS action plan for the country.