Tag Archives: Marange

UK Jewellery Trade Organisations Advocate “Diligence” in Diamond Purchases

Posted on December 7, 2011 | Leave a comment

For release 7th Dec  2011

With yesterdays announcement that Global Witness has removed itself form the Kimberley Process, UK jewellers are seeking answers to why contentious diamonds remain at the forefront of news as they enter the critical festive retail period.

The decision in November by the KP to allow exports of diamonds from certain mines in Zimbabwe rocked the international diamond industry. UK jewellers expressed concern over the decision and subsequently many have sought more assurances from their dealers on the provenance of the goods being imported.

Global Witness were among the founding bodies of the KP and their departure from the dialogue marks a significant shift in confidence that the KP may not be ‘fit for purpose’ in current global politics.

In May of this year, Global Witness met with the UK’s largest trade bodies; the National Association of Goldsmiths who represent over 2500 jewellery retailers and the British Jeweller’s Association, who’s 1000 members belong to manufacturing, trade and wholesale within the industry. The NAG and BJA formed a specialist Ethics Committee in March 2011, tasked with consulting between key UK and International trade and NGO bodies, as well as with the UK Government.

Global Witness gave valuable information about the current crisis in Zimbabwe and discussed the Kimberley process objectives. They expressed frustration that finding representatives of the artisanal miners was proving particularly difficult and it was clear that ensuring a balanced outcome for the diamond miners of Zimbabwe was going to be extremely challenging.

However, despite the withdrawal of Global Witness from the KP, the Ethics Committee maintains that the UK jewellery industry will continue to seek resolutions from the World Diamond Council on the matter and in the meantime recommend jewellers and retailers remain cautious about the origin of their diamonds.

Michael Hoare, CEO of the National Association of Goldsmiths said

“It’s important to retain consumer confidence in British made jewellery .The creation of the Ethics Committee is a commitment to effecting positive changes for the jewellery industry and ensuring that a regular dialogue between all parties is maintained”.

The BJA and NAG have long advocated their memberships take every reasonable precaution in diligently checking the provenance of the diamonds used in British made jewellery. Today, the Ethics Committee announced an evaluation of the  UK response to the recent developments and will assess concrete steps which UK jewellers can take to protect their integrity from the Zimbabwe stones which have attracted the ‘Blood Diamonds’ label by KP critics .

The value of understanding the intricate supply chains in UK jewellery manufacture extends into all aspects of diamonds, coloured gems and precious metals.

In recent months the Ethics Committee have met with the Fairtrade Foundation and the London Bullion Market Exchange, where current standards to ensure best practice in both newly mined and refined or recycled gold were examined.

Simon Rainer, CEO of the British Jewellers Association said

“The UK industry is at the forefront of traceability; working towards the creation of recognisable standards to define transparency in jewellery supply chains”.

-Ends-

Notes to Editors

 

CONTACT VIVIEN JOHNSTON    vivien@fifibijoux.com, 07789224705

 

The British Jewellers’ Association has united with The National Association of Goldsmiths to support access to ethical supply chains and chain- of- custody objectives for their members.

 

Realising that many small businesses are faced with substantial challenges when trying to break down the components of their supply chains and assess ethical credentials, the BJA and NAG have committed to take the lead for UK jewellery manufacturers and retailers.

 

The committee wish to build a concrete policy and guidelines that meet the high standards required for responsible and transparent  trading in the UK market

Both associations have connections with RJC and CIBJO and are mindful of their contribution to the debate, but act in the best interests of their respective members.

The NAG & BJA‘s ethics working committee will assess the feasibility of a system of auditable standards covering the following areas:

 

  • Mining
  • Metals
  • Diamonds
  • Gemstones
  • Manufacturing
  • Retailing.

The Ethics Committee will tackle each field and call on experts for an open and frank information exchange in order to develop a robust system in the UK jewellery industry. Vivien Johnston, founder of ethical jewellery brand Fifi Bijoux, has been appointed to steer the project.

Greg Valerio, winner of the Observer Ethical Campaigner Award for his work to bring Fair Trade gold to market, has pledged his support for the realisation of the standards.

Photos of  Simon Rainer, CEO of BJA; Vivien Johnston; founder of Fifi Bijoux and Chair of Ethics Committee; Michael Hoare, CEO of NAG, Greg Valerio, founder of CRED Jewellery & Fair Jewellery Action, available on request.

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It’s a sad day for Kimberley.

Posted on November 11, 2010 | Leave a comment

Published first by JCK

Following the announcement of the latest Kimberley Process impasse with Zimbabwe, there was a palpable feeling of disappointment at the Plenary in Jerusalem and anxiety about the KP’s future. Even industry supporters are starting to murmur, “What do we need this for?”


Seeing the KP in action—or, in this case, inaction—has given me an understanding why people have grown so frustrated and disappointed in it. What started as a serious effort to save lives has become a spectacle.

For the third KP meeting in a row, Zimbabwe dominated the proceedings. As one delegate joked, “By the end of this, Zimbabwe will be perfect, and the rest of the world will have gone to hell.” The Plenary ended with everything so up in the air that no vice chairman was chosen—the first time that has happened in KP history. (The U.S. wanted the post, but Zimbabwe objected, pending the resolution of the export question.)

To be fair, some of this haggling is the nature of the beast. The KP requires consensus be achieved among 72 governments. It is difficult to get 72 people to agree on anything—never mind 72 governments. And ultimately the industry can’t just rely on the KP, and those 72 unpredictable governments, to chart its future. It needs to take matters more into its hands.

I still support the KP—not because it helps consumer confidence in the industry, because I am not convinced it does. I believe the KP is the right thing to do, because uncontrolled diamond sales can lead to some horrible things. It has even proved its worth this year, leading to a marked improvement in the situation in Marange.

But all that is in jeopardy now, and if the KP does fall apart, it will be difficult to re-create. With “traditional definition” conflict diamonds basically history, there isn’t going to be much political will to construct an international gemstone certification scheme.

Now, while I “attended” the KP Plenary in Jerusalem, I didn’t go to any of the meetings; they were closed to the press. Apparently, at the closing session, I missed some truly insane stuff, with the U.S. flayed for imperialism and the KP chair having to prevent countries from walking out. Once the Plenary ended, Zimbabwe’s mining minister, Obert Mpofu, kept things interesting by declaring at a press conference that Marange diamonds had been cleared for export. This puzzled the assembled reporters, who had spent the last half hour hearing there was in fact no deal. Oh no, the minister declared: A proposal had been put before the Plenary. No one objected. Which, in his world, meant: It was approved.

Later, of course, KP chairman Boaz Hirsch explicitly contradicted this. However, it may have been noteworthy that Mpofu said that Zimbabwe would only be exporting from KP-compliant mines Mbada and Canadille, and not the rest of Marange. Which, truthfully, not many people do object to.

The irony here is, if you discount the Zimbabwe mess, there are some glimmers of hope for the KP’s future. The KP will finally establish a permanent staff, to ensure more continuity between the rotating chairs. There is also a new enforcement mechanism. These are important achievements that were top priorities of Hirsch, who is given good grades for his tenure, as tumultuous as it was.

The NGOs and the industry also agreed on “human rights language.” While this was ultimately blocked by a group of countries, it is likely to come up again, and there is optimism about it passing.  “Human rights” are already mentioned in the KP Preamble. Even so, adding this language is viewed by some as a pretty significant expansion of the KP charter, that could lead to further controversies like the one we are seeing over Zimbabwe. Angola, in particular, was just rapped in a Wall Street Journal article for the treatment of diggers by mine security forces.

Now, if all this turmoil results in a cleaner supply chain, it will have all been worth it. But one wonders whether the KP can survive many more rides on this roller coaster.

By Rob Bates

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Open Source Mineral Resigns From The Responsible Jewellery Counsel (RJC).

Posted on September 15, 2010 | 1 Comment

By Marc Choyt.

Open Source, founded a few years ago by Mike Angenent, offers ethical, traceable and transparent sourcing in for both diamonds and other gems.  It has become one of the most respected organizations in the ethical sourcing community, providing ethically sourced diamonds and gems to jewelers interested in exceptional standards.  Now, Open Source has resigned from the RJC.  This resignation, as Mike’s letter below reveals, was catalyzed by RJC’s stance in the allowance of diamonds from the Marange field in Zimbabwe.

The Kimberley Certification Process (KP) is certifying these Marange diamonds.  KP has been the backbone of the diamond trade, as it was developed in response to the blood diamond tragedy in which three million Africans died mostly between 1990 and 2000.   RJC is backing KP, despite that fact the human rights violations, including rape and murder,  have been widely documented in Marange.

This resignation is an important development for those who follow these issues closely.  It is further evidence of the split between the large scale companies and trade organizations that drive the RJC agenda, and the smaller organizations, such as Fair Jewelry Action, interested in developing more comprehensive standards based not only on traceability and transparency, but human rights and environmental justice.

Below is Mike’s letter to the RJC

In response to the RJC’s decision to welcome the KP’s agreement regarding Zimbabwe I decided that it would not befit Open Source Minerals to remain its RJC membership.

I can understand, to some extend, that multistakeholder decisions require compromises and should be considered professionally and not personally. I do however, not share that view.

Decisions like these are never merely professional as they affect the livelihoods and even lives [literally] of many. They are therefore very personal and should be the main concern in any policy making decision or the acknowledgement of them.

Furthermore, it is one thing to come to a professional compromise and an other to acknowledge the same as being Responsible.

Responsibility is about the Council’s and its members bigger role in society. Establishing a Code of Conduct should not externalize costs by expensive auditing measures but should first and foremost lead to true empowerment and shareholding of communities.

Therefore, responsibility should in the first place extend to the villagers of Marange that discovered the diamonds in 2006.

These (still) are among the poorest people in the world – despite the $56 million sold in the recent tenders – and any Council claiming Responsibility should take stewardship into assuring that the basic rights of these people are met as an absolute requirement.

There is also a supreme court order* regarding legal ownership of Chiadzwa which has been ignored by the KP.

While the KP might have its reasons to ignore it under the mandate they have, I do not think it befits to RJC to do the same.

Compliance with national law is a basic requirement for all who claim responsible practices and especially for those who promote them.

I understand that under the current definition of ‘blood diamonds’ it has been difficult for the KP members to file Marange’s production as such.

Semantics however should not be the main concern when peoples lives are involved. But however difficult it may be, it is again one thing to come to such a decision and another to acknowledge it.

While this case could have been a clear statement by the RJC of its independency and that it is living up to the internationally applicable standards they have set out in their CoP (Ethical and Responsible sourcing / Stewardship a.o.) it has now become a meager compromise to a decision that “if implemented could provide hope”.

That the decisions and demands are not being implemented should not come as a surprise.

Mike Angenent

Open Source Minerals

*

There are pending legal disputes over ownership (Chiadzwa) after Africa Consolidated Resources was taken over illegally and forcefully by state owned companies.

Pending or not, there seem to be some Supreme Court orders that where disregarded by the KP.

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