The United Arab Emirates has banned trade in rough diamonds from Zimbabwe's Marange diamond fields, Emirates 24/7.com reports.

A spokesman for the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) – the parent company of the Dubai Diamond Exchange – issued an e-mail statement confirming that the Kimberley Process Chair (Israel) had advised all member nations to refrain from trading in diamonds from Marange until a consensus could be reached and said that the UAE KP office was in "full compliance."

Furthermore, the "ban will remain in place until further instruction from the KP," the spokesman said.

Every year, the UAE trades over $22 billion worth of rough diamonds "from Zimbabwe as well as many other nations," the DMCC spokesman said.