Outgoing KP chair says new conflict diamond definition not likely this year

The outgoing Kimberley Process chairperson Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic said that the United States proposed new definition of conflict diamonds will not be realised this year.
She told Rough & Polished in an exclusive interview which will be published Monday next week ahead of the KP Plenary Session in Washington D.C that one chairmanship term was a very short period of time.
“It is probably going to be too short for many things to get to the point where they is a vote and that vote leads to a consensus,” she said.
“So what we feel we are doing is that we are laying the foundations for the South African chairmanship...”
Ambassador Milovanovic said that there was resistance when they first tabled out the proposal of the definition change.
“Frankly when we started no one even wanted to talk about this at all then the survey was done,” she said.
“Survey results were looked at, discussions began with much uncertainty and now we feel that we have at least given to the Kimberley Process a greater sense of comfort about the  discussion and a greater sense that there is more dialogue than is needed so that all the concerns come out… and also that proposals can be modified in order to address concerns and not in time, not by next week..”
Ambassador Milovanovic also said that she was hoping that the Plenary would decide by consensus to identify and approve someone to run a permanent Administrative Support Mechanism (ASM) for KP.
She said an ASM was very much needed because there was a lack of continuity in the way the Kimberley Process works.
“There is absolutely no one who brings continuity from one chairmanship to the next. You start over from zero, now of course you call your colleagues and you ask what they did in the past, what precedent did they set and how they do things but that is a very, if I dare say, an artisanal way of doing things, it’s not a very professional way of doing things,” said Ambassador Milovanonic.
She said some members had volunteered to run the ASM and even fund it.
The World Diamond Council had proposed that it take responsibility for the management of the ASM, which it would do with the collaboration of four of its members, which include the Gem and Jewelry Export Promotion Council of India, the Israel Diamond Institute, the Antwerp World Diamond Center and the Diamond House of the Government of Ghana.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished