From their Web site:
"The Kimberley Process (KP) is a joint governments, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds - rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments. The trade in these illicit stones has fuelled decades of devastating conflicts in countries such as Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone.
"The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) imposes extensive requirements on its members to enable them to certify shipments of rough diamonds as 'conflict-free'. As of November 2008, the KP has 49 members, representing 75 countries, with the European Community and its Member States counting as an individual participant."
France participates in the Kimberly Process as part of the European Community. That participation has been evident since early 2000.
No. Diamonds come from the diamond mining process.
Lab created diamonds, or synthetic diamonds, are created by the crystallization of pure carbon. The crystallization takes a long time, so the process is very difficult.
Stones do not become diamonds. Diamonds are formed from carbon that is placed under very high temperatures and pressures.
'Rocks' do not turn into diamonds. Diamonds are formed deep within the earth's mantle, from carbon. The formation process includes enormous pressure, extreme high heat and millennia of time -- in craytons. Diamonds are brought to the earth's surface by volcanic pipes. You can read more about this process, below.
After diamonds are mined, the owner of the lot of diamonds must certify that the mining process meets the requirements set out in the Kimberly Process agreement. Reputable buyers who are also bound by the Kimberly Process agreement will not purchase a lot of stones without the Kimberly Certificate. The loophole, however, is that not all diamond miners or diamond buyers are reputable or bound by the Kimberly Process.
This effort is named The Kimberly Process.
The system is called the Kimberly Process.
Zales sources diamonds from various locations around the world, including countries such as Russia, Canada, Botswana, and South Africa. They comply with the Kimberly Process to ensure that their diamonds are conflict-free and ethically sourced.
No. The Russian Federation is listed as a signatory to the Kimberly Process, meaning that diamonds exported from Russia or imported to Russia are all certified by the Kimberly process. The only groups in favour of conflict diamonds are terrorists, criminals, gangsters and others interested in funding mayhem, civil war, and terrorism.
Blood diamonds are being addressed worldwide by The Kimberly Process. The United States government is a member of the process. Read more, below.
Canadian diamond mining companies are signatories to the certification process that assures against blood diamonds, which originate in African countries. The agreement is the Kimberly Process Certification.
You can purchase a Kimberly Process Certified Diamond from any retailer who sells them. If you choose to purchase a stone without a Kimberly Process Certificate, you may be purchasing a conflict diamond.
Any person who purchases a diamond can require a Kimberly Certificate for the diamond, which is an international diamond industry process that aims to verify that diamonds covered by such a certificate are not blood diamonds. You can read more about the process, below.
One resolution or guideline to overwhelm the availability of blood or conflict diamonds, is that diamonds crossing borders be transported in a tamper-resistant container. You can read more about the Kimberly Process, below.
Conflict diamonds are diamonds generally found on the ground or rivers. The problem is that in areas of rebellion or high crime, the bad guys used the money from selling these raw stones to finance their crimes or rebellions. There are estimates indicating that conflict or blood diamonds were never more than 5% of the diamonds in the world. Now they are less than 1%. Why? The Kimberly Process. You can read more about the Kimberly Process, below.
Governments worked at 'cleaning up' the trade in diamonds where conflict diamonds were mined. They developed The Kimberly Process, whereby stones are certified as being conflict-free.The Kimberly Process is not per se, a social policy, but it is a government policy employed nearly world-wide based on conflict diamonds and their power to inflict death and destruction on societies.