Diamonds cleared for export

According to the US-based Rapaport Diamond Trading Network (RapNet), KP Chairman Mathieu Yamba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has unilaterally made the decision.

Yamba sent a letter to KP members, saying: With immediate effect, Zimbabwe is hereby authorised to resume exports from the compliant mining operations of Mbada and Canadile.

The two companies are joint ventures with the states Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), and have been mining the Chiadzwa diamond fields under a cloud of controversy since 2009.

The KP, which is meant to be curbing the trade in blood diamonds, has been trying to reach a diplomatic solution to Zimbabwe, stopping short of banning the country from trade. In 2009 it gave the Zimbabwean authorities time to sort out its diamond industry and reach international compliance levels. The KP last year then authorised two monitored diamond auctions, meant to pave the way for full exports to resume.

But KP members have been unable to reach consensus on Zimbabwes trade future, and last year a proposed agreement was shot down, with mainly Western KP members raising concerns about ongoing human rights abuses. The KPs Chairman at the time, Israels Boaz Hirsch, then announced that an agreement had been reached earlier this year.

The new chairman, Yamba, subsequently reported that consensus had in fact not been achieved. He added, however, that should the parties fail to reach consensus, exports (from Chiadzwa) shall continue until the administrative decision is passed.

The US has objected to Yambas decision to allow the exports. US representatives have apparently sent a note to the KP authorities in India and the United Arab Emirates stating that it would view any shipments from Zimbabwe as non-compliant.

The US has also warned that it would publish the names of companies taking delivery of the diamonds on the State Department website to ensure that all American companies were aware of potentially non-compliant goods. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which administers US sanctions, has meanwhile also been asked to look more closely at the issue of these transactions.

British owned Standard Chartered Bank in Harare also recently refused to process financial transactions involving ZMDC and Chinas Uranium Corporation, saying the local company was on the sanctions list. The companies wanted to embark on a uranium mining project, but the US thwarted the deal by blocking the transfers of capital.