SAfrica-diamonds,lead Diamond countries agree on certification scheme ATTENTION - ADDS quotes /// PRETORIA, Sept 21 (AFP) - Ministers from diamond producing countries and main players in the industry agreed Thursday to institute an international certification scheme they hope will eliminate "conflict diamonds" from international trade. "We favour a simple and effective system that does not place undue burden on governments and industry, especially smaller players," said a ministerial statement issued in Pretoria where a three-day conference sought to obtain consensus on anti-smuggling measures. But the statement warned that such a system was still some way off becoming a reality, as countries such as Angola still needed to develop their administrative capacities. Industry players and countries like Russia were also wary of calls for an international body that would oversee the international diamond trade for reasons of sovereignity, insiders said. But British junior foreign minister Peter Hain told reporters that a UN-sponsored international treaty should be in place by next year to compel all countries to enforce the system. "I don't think this should take very long. There is a world-wide repugnance at the diamond trading system that fuels these devastating conflicts," Hain said. The initiative comes amid fears that legitimately mined gems from Africa may suffer from a consumer backlash against perceptions that diamonds are chiefly responsible for Africa's many civil wars. South African Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka announced that participants had agreed an inter-governmental body should be set up to monitor compliance with certification. Conflict diamonds -- used to fund civil wars in Africa -- are defined as those sold by rebel movements, but the London-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) Global Witness criticised that definition as too narrow. "We would consider any diamonds coming out of the Democratic Republic of Congo as conflict diamonds," said Alex Yearsley of Global Witness. "Diamonds are obviously fuelling that war -- and the current president (Laurent Kabila) is using diamonds to keep up his war effort while refusing to negotiate a political settlement." Hain conceded that some governments benefited from the illegal diamond trade, and said monitoring mechanisms would be set up to stop governments from merely signing diamond certificates. International trade laws meanwhile need to be incorporated into the proposals to implement a "mine-to-finger" system of sealed containers and standardised certificates of origin. To this end, another inter-governmental conference is to be held in London in late October that players said would look at ways of assisting African countries to develop anti-smuggling measures. Main industry players say conflict diamonds make up no more than four percent of the 6.8 billion dollars worth of rough diamonds produced each year -- half of them in Africa -- while critics estimate this to be as high as 15 percent. Namibian Mines and Energy Minister Jesaya Nyamu warned that the campaign against diamonds was reaching a crescendo. "By Christmas this onslaught on the diamond industry would have reached a climax," he said, maintaining that "fanatical NGOs" and the media were giving unwarranted publicity to the issue. Producing countries are also seeking direct representation on the World Diamond Council, set up as in industry regulatory body last July, with sub-Saharan countries seeking to increase their share of the 50 billion dollar a year gem trade. Most of the profits in the international trade accrue in international cutting and trading centres like London, Antwerp, Belgium, Tel Aviv and New York. "I am baffled that the governments of producing states of southern Africa have not been invited to be members of the so-called World Diamond Council," Nyamu said. Governments represented at the conference were South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, Russia, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Belgium and Lesotho. str-bur/hn/jsl ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------