OECD: No Plans Now to Issue Precious Stones Due Diligence Guidelines

(IDEX Online) - OECD Guidelines: A Replacement of the Kimberley Process? was the original name given by the organizers for Panel II at the Second Zimbabwe Diamond Conference that took place in Harare in early November. Though the original name of the panel discussion was changed, at the request of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), it didn’t seem to matter much to the officials from Angola, Namibia, DRC, or Zimbabwe who were in attendance. It is believed that such specific OECD Guidelines for precious stones (including diamonds) would add additional human rights elements to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS or KP) beyond its current scope of keeping conflict diamonds out of the industry and, essentially, widen the scope of the KP.