---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 14 Sep 2000 20:54:18 -0700
From: David Mozer <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [wa-afr] Fwd: revised carat act/ new witness rights alert on
    conflict diamonds

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Subject: revised carat act/ new witness rights alert on conflict diamonds
From: "Kristina Hare Lyons" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 17:38:14 -500


Here's the almost final version of the CARAT Act... it was
introduced late on Tuesday, Sept 12. The bill number is H.R. 5147.

Also, wanted to let you know that Witness has just launched a
new Rights Alert on conflict diamonds, which includes our urgent
action on the Carat Act. The Diamond Life features never-before-
broadcast footage of human rights violations in Sierra Leone - and
is definitely R rated. I encourage you to forward the information to
your lists and use it as an organizing tool. The Witness Web site
is www.witness.org.

Thank you.

Kristina Hare Lyons
Physicians for Human Rights


> H.L.C.
> .....................................................................
> (Original Signature of Member)
> 106TH CONGRESS
> 2D SESSION
> H. R. ll
> IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
> Mr. HALL of Ohio and Mr. WOLF of Virginia introduced the
following bill;
> which was referred to the
> Committee on lllllllllllllll
>
> A BILL
>
> To prohibit the importation of diamonds mined in certain
> countries, and for other purposes.
>
> Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United
> States of America in Congress assembled,
>
> SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
>
> This Act may be cited as the ''Consumer Access to a
Responsible Accounting
> of Trade Act of 2000''.
>
> TITLE I-PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS
>
> SEC. 101. PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS.
>
> No diamonds that have been mined in or exported from the
Republic of
> Sierra Leone, the Republic of Liberia, Burkina Faso, the Republic
of Cote
> d'Ivoire, the Republic of Angola, Guinea, Togo, or Ukraine may be
imported
> into the United States, except for diamonds--
>
> (1) the country of origin of which has been certified as the
Republic of
> Sierra Leone by the internationally recognized government of that
country,
> in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution
1306 July 5,
> 2000; or
>
> (2) the country of origin of which has been certified as the
Republic of
> Angola by the internationally recognized government of that
country, in
> accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution
1173 of June
> 12, 1998.
>
> SEC. 102. WAIVERS.
>
> (a) CERTIFICATION OF NO TRANSSHIPMENT -The Secretary of
the Treasury may
> waive the prohibition under section 101 with respect to a country
listed
> in that section if the Secretary certifies to the Congress that
diamonds
> mined in Sierra Leone or Angola are not being transshipped
through that
> country for the purpose of evading any prohibition on trade in
diamonds
> exported from Sierra Leone or Angola.
>
> (b) NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS.-The President may
waive the prohibition
> under section 101 with respect to a country listed in that section
if the
> President-
>
> (1) determines that it is in the national security interests of the
United
> States to exercise the waiver; and
>
> (2) transmits that determination, together with reasons for the
> determination, to the Congress.
>
> TITLE II-CERTIFICATES OF ORIGIN
>
> SEC. 201. CERTIFICATES AND STATEMENTS INDICATING
COUNTRY OF MINING.
>
> (a) IN GENERAL.-
>
> (1) Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the
> Secretary of the Treasury, in concurrence with the Special
Representative
> on Conflict Diamonds appointed under section 401, and after
consultation
> with appropriate organizations, Federal agencies, and members
of the
> public, shall issue regulations requiring--
>
> (A) diamonds, and
>
> (B) products made in whole or in part from diamonds,
>
> which enter, or are withdrawn from warehouse for consumption,
into the
> customs territory of the United States to be accompanied by a
certificate
> stating the English name (or unmistakable abbreviation) of the
country in
> which the diamonds were mined. Such certificate shall be legible
and
> reasonably conspicuous on the outermost container in which the
diamonds or
> diamond products ordinarily are sold to the ultimate purchaser in
the
> United States.
>
> (2) The importer of record of diamonds or diamond products shall
be
> responsible for the certificate required by paragraph (1).
>
> (b) REQUIREMENT APPLICABLE TO PARCELS OF
DIAMONDS.-The Secretary of the
> Treasury may by regulation provide that the requirements of
subsection (a)
> apply to parcels of diamonds that are imported, rather than
individual
> diamonds.
>
> SEC. 202. ENFORCEMENT.
>
> (a) IN GENERAL.-Whenever the Secretary of the Treasury
determines that a
> person has violated section 201 or regulations issued thereunder,
the
> Secretary may issue an order assessing a civil penalty of not
more than
> $50,000 for each violation or requiring compliance with such
section, or
> the Secretary may commence in the United States district court
for the
> district in which the
> violation occurred a civil action for appropriate relief, including a
> preliminary or permanent injunction.
>
> (b) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.-Any person who willfully or with the
intent to
> defraud violates subsection (a) or (b) of section 201, or any
regulation
> issued thereunder, shall-
>
> (1) upon conviction for the first violation under this subsection, be
> fined not more than $100,000, or imprisoned for not more than 1
year, or
> both; and
>
> (2) upon conviction for the second or any subsequent violation
under this
> subsection, be fined not more than $250,000, or imprisoned for
not more
> than 1 year, or both.
>
> (c) EXEMPTION.-If diamonds or diamond products do not comply
with any
> requirement of subsection (a) or (b) of section 201 or any
regulation
> issued thereunder, and the Secretary determines that no fraud or
willful
> neglect was involved in the failure to so comply, the Secretary
shall
> afford the person responsible for complying with such
requirement a
> reasonable opportunity to provide the certificate required by
section
> 201(a) or the statement required by section 201(b), as the case
may be.
>
> SEC. 203. EXEMPTION AND WAIVERS.
>
> (a) EXEMPTION.-The Secretary of the Treasury, in concurrence
with the
> Special Representative on Conflict Diamonds appointed under
section 401,
> may exempt from the requirements of section 201 diamonds and
diamond
> products that are valued below a minimum dollar amount
determined by the
> Secretary.
>
> (b) WAIVERS.-The Secretary of the Treasury may waive the
requirements of
> section 201 for periods of not more than 1 year each if, for each
waiver-
>
> (1) the Secretary determines that-
>
> (A) it is not possible to determine, in a cost-effective manner, the
> country in which the diamonds imported into the United States
were mined;
> or
>
> (B) an effective system, such as the system described in title III,
is
> otherwise being implemented that prevents the importation of
diamonds,
> revenues from the sale of which would be used to support
continued
> conflict in the regions in which the diamonds were mined; and
>
> (2) the Secretary submits that determination, and the basis for
the
> determination, to the Congress.
>
> SEC. 204. REPORTS BY SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.
>
> The Secretary of the Treasury and the Special Representative on
Conflict
> Diamonds shall, not later than 6 months after the date of the
enactment of
> this Act, and not later than the end of each 12-month period
thereafter,
> submit to the Congress a joint report on the feasibility
> of identifying the country in which diamonds, both rough and cut,
were
> mined.
>
> TITLE III-INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS
>
> SEC. 301. FINDINGS.
>
> The Congress finds that-
>
> (1) the use of funds from the illegitimate diamond trade to support
> conflicts in Africa has devastating effects on the peoples of the
regions
> involved in the conflicts;
>
> (2) United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1306 and 1237
prohibit the
> importation of rough diamonds from Sierra Leone and Angola,
except those
> accompanied by a certificate of origin issued by the government
of that
> country; and
>
> (3) the initiative of the diamond industry, as presented in the
Resolution
> of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and the
International Diamond
> Manufacturers Association in Antwerp on July 19, 2000, as well
as the
> progress of the South African led Working Group on African
Diamonds, in
> developing proposals for a global certification and monitoring
system for
> diamonds, are important steps toward international controls on
> ''conflict'' diamonds.
>
> SEC. 302. ACTION BY EXECUTIVE BRANCH.
>
> The Congress urges the President-
>
> (1) to take immediate action to develop and implement, together with other
> governments and organizations, an effective international system for
> controlling trade in rough diamonds and to direct the appropriate Federal
> departments and agencies to begin planning for implementation of such a
> system; and
>
> (2) once a global certificate of origin system for rough diamonds is in
> place, including forgery-proof certificates of exports, secure packaging,
> import and export controls, and an international diamond database, to take
> appropriate steps to fully adhere to this system, and to actively promote
> international compliance.
>
> TITLE IV-SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE ON
> CONFLICT DIAMONDS
>
> SEC. 401. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE ON CONFLICT DIAMONDS.
>
> (a) APPOINTMENT.-The President shall, not later than 3 months after the
> date of the enactment of this Act, appoint a Special Representative on
> Conflict Diamonds.  The Special Representative on Conflict Diamonds shall
> hold office at the pleasure of the President and shall have the rank of
> Ambassador.
>
> (b) FUNCTIONS.-The Special Representative on Conflict Diamonds shall have
> the following functions:
>
> (1) To serve as chairperson of an interagency working group established by
> the President to address the issues relating to the use of proceeds from
> the sale of diamonds mined in certain regions in Africa to support armed
> conflict in the countries in these regions. The interagency group shall
> include representatives of the Department of the Treasury (including the
> Customs Service), the Policy and Planning Staff and the Bureau of
> Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the Department of State, the Office
> of the United States Trade Representative, and the Department of Commerce.
>
>
> (2) To represent the United States at international meetings on the issues
> described in paragraph (1).
>
> (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.-The Special Representative on Conflict Diamonds
> shall submit to the Congress, not later than 6 months after the date of
> the enactment of this Act, and not later than the end of each 6-month
> period thereafter, a report on the following:
>
> (1) In consultation with the intelligence community, on the export of
> diamonds--
>
> (A) from countries subject to an embargo imposed by the United Nations on
> imports of diamonds from those countries; and
>
> (B) from countries through which diamonds subject to such an embargo are
> transshipped in order to evade the embargo, including Liberia, Burkina
> Faso, Togo, Cote D'Ivoire, and Ukraine.
>
> (2) On the development of the proposals relating to the commercial
> importation of rough diamonds that were adopted in the resolution of the
> World Federation of Diamond Bourses and the International Diamond
> Manufacturers Association in Antwerp on July 19, 2000,
including the
> status of-
>
> (A) regulations of the countries that are the major exporters and
> importers of diamonds,
> relating to exports and imports of diamonds;
>
> (B) international monitoring and inspection of diamonds that are
traded;
> and
>
> (C) an international computer registry of diamonds, and a means
of
> determining the indigenous mining resources of exporting
countries.
>
> (3) On the development of technologies to mark diamonds and
technologies
> to identify the source of diamonds after they are polished.

------- End of forwarded message -------



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