IDEX Online: KP reaches agreement on Zim exports

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo--An agreement that allows immediate exports of diamonds mined in Zimbabwe's Marange fields was reached Tuesday in Kinshasa. The agreement follows a two-year crisis that threw governments, the diamond industry and civil society into a bitter debate.

As first reported by IDEX Online, members of the Kimberley Process (KP) convening today in Kinshasa for an annual plenary meeting reached an agreement on exports from two of Zimbabwe's controversial diamond fields after the U.S. voiced willingness to concede its tough stance.

The European Union brokered agreement includes approval of exports from the Marange mines operated by Mbada and Marange Resources (formerly Canadile) and the appointment of two monitors: former monitor Abby Chikane and World Diamond Council (WDC) Technical Committee Chair Mark Van Bockstael.

Exports from a third mine in Marange, operated by Chinese miner Anjin, have not been approved yet. The KP monitoring team will visit Anjin within 14 days of the plenary meeting to ensure that it is KP compliant and permitted to export diamonds. The team will pay similar visit to any other new mine within 14 days of receiving an invitation, the WDC announced.

According to the release, if the two monitors are in disagreement, the matter at question will be brought to the Working Group on Monitoring for recommendation to the KP chair. It's not clear if in such a situation the chair will have final and sole decision power.

For its part, Zimbabwe has committed to uphold the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) minimum requirements and report to the current KP plenary and the KP intersessional meeting in 2012 on issues related to identification of further investors, the regulation of artisanal mining, the fight against illicit digging and smuggling.

The new agreement will remain under constant review and will remain in force until the KP plenary meeting in 2012.

The three-day KP meeting is not attended by the NGOs that helped form the system. Partnership Africa Canada said NGOs are boycotting the meeting in protest of KP's failure to resolve the Zimbabwean issue.

Today's agreement was reached after the United States was willing to soften its stand towards Zimbabwe. It's understood that it now paves the way for the United States to be elected vice chair of the process and become KP chair on Jan. 1, 2012.