The Kimberley Process will hold a plenary meeting at the U.S. Department of State in Washington on November 27 to 30, the State Department press service told Rough&Polished. This closed meeting will be hosted by Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez and Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic, Chair of the Kimberley Process.
According to the KP Chair, one of the important issues on the agenda of the plenary session will be the discussion of a new definition of conflict diamonds. “The main focus will be on consolidating what the Kimberley Process has achieved already; making it better and either making advances in modernizing and improving on the KP or laying the foundation for doing that so that South Africa which will be the Chair of the KP in 2013,” Gillian Milovanovic said during an online conference.
The KP plenary in Washington will be attended by the representatives of the Kimberley Process member states and those of the civil society, who will discuss a range of topics related to the mining and trading of rough diamonds.
Assistant Secretary Fernandez, Ambassador Milovanovic, Minister for Mineral Resources of the Republic of South Africa Susan Shabangu, Chairman of the World Diamond Council Eli Izakoff and a representative of the Civil Society Coalition will deliver opening remarks inaugurating the Kimberley Process plenary meeting.
On January 1, 2013 the KP chairmanship will move from the U.S. to South Africa.
Olga Patseva, Editor in Chief of the American Bureau, Rough&Polished
