The World Diamond Council concluded its 7th Annual Meeting in Russia with the announcement that the Kimberley Process had reached consensus on an agreement which will enable the sale of diamonds harvested from Zimbabwe's Marange diamond fields.

According to a WDC press release, Zimbabwe will be able to start exporting roughs diamond from the Marange production of May 28 and on, starting August. Nevertheless, "During this period, the Kimberley Process will conduct a review mission to Zimbabwe, which will be held in conjunction with the first visit to the country by the Kimberley Process Monitor," said the release.

The monitor will visit Zimbabwe in early September to certify any future exports, and "The Kimberley Process Monitoring Committee will review the report issued by the review mission to formulate a position regarding future exports."

KP Chair Boaz Hirsch defined the agreement as victorious for KPCS: "The past several months have been difficult, but they have clearly demonstrated that not only does the Kimberley Process have teeth, it also is able to achieve results."

"Although we can regard this as progress, there remains much to do," said World Diamond Council President Eli Izhakoff. "Although the discussions were often intense, a great deal of good will was shown. We need to build on this and to continue the hard work of the past several months."

Throughout the two-day WDC gathering, Kimberley Process negotiators had gathered in intensive meetings, with the goal being to break the log-jam over Zimbabwe diamond exports, added the press release.

WDC President Eli Izhakoff invited the Kimberley Process to hold a mini-summit in St. Petersburg alongside the World Diamond Council, in another attempt to reach agreement over Marange. As a result, a senior mission from the government of Zimbabwe, alongside high-ranking delegation from the United States, arrived in Russia.



The Plenary Session brought to St. Petersburg representatives of the diamond industry from Belgium, Israel, India, Russia, Namibia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, rough diamond producers, representatives of government from producing, cutting and consumer centers, member of the banking community and the media.

While the resolution of the situation in Zimbabwe remained high on the agenda, another central issue were the steps needed to reform and refine the Kimberley Process, seven years after its rough diamond certification scheme was first launched.