The Russian Federation, as Chair of the Kimberley Process (KP) in 2021, holds a virtual Intersessional Meeting of the KP Working bodies from June 21 to 25, 2021

Key topics on the KP agenda will largely reflect the Russian chairmanship’s priorities aimed at ensuring the sustainable development of the global diamond industry, particularly under the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

The Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation – 2021 KP Chair Alexey Moiseev’s welcome word to the delegates outlined a priority area for further work in the KP. It is digitalization of KP Certificates accompanying every export-import operation with rough natural diamonds.

At the moment KP does not possess a global digital platform for exchange of information and implementation of a digital certificate is in itself a complex technological solution for the KP.

“Russia has the necessary infrastructure and legislation that allows such a project to be realised, if KP Family made a decision to do so. We are happy to share the experience on the issue. Russia intends to use its digital customs platform as a means of advancing the digital exchange of information on KP Certificates with key countries importing Russian diamonds”, noted Alexey Moiseev.

It is vital for the future development of KP that, following the results of the Plenary Meeting of 2021, KP participants support the so-called “Principles of Responsible Diamond Sourcing” as the best practice for the industry.

“We also hope to continue the discussion on reaching consensus in the review of “conflict diamonds” definition as the topic is gaining new relevance with diamond industry recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important we do not let the progress made in 2019 go to waste”, said Alexey Moiseev.

As KP Chair, Russia will also work well to stabilize the situation in the diamond industry of the Central African Republic (CAR) with the aim of helping the CAR government strengthen procedures to control diamond exports and prevent conflict diamonds from entering the global supply chain.

Constructive interaction of the KP CAR Monitoring Team and a detailed dialogue will make it possible to assess the possibility of making decisions on the compliance or non-compliance of individual areas within CAR with the KPSC minimum requirements. It will also help us evaluate the effectiveness of the current verification mechanism for diamond shipments exported from CAR within the KP framework.

Another key topic is the location of permanent KP Secretariat. Russia expects to reach a consensus on the issue. It will help systematize the work of the KP Working bodies and introduce effective mechanisms of administrative support for implementation of the KPCS by the participating countries. We will also continue to work on expanding the KP Family with new Participants seeking to contribute to further development of global conflict-free trade in rough diamonds.

It should also be noted that in 2020, the KP made a consensus decision to postpone the Chairmanship of the Russian Federation from 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the recovery in business activities, the Chairmanship in 2021 will take place in a full format, but the Intersessional Meeting will be held online. The agreed program of the meeting should become an effective tool for the continuation of the KP's work and detailed discussion of the agenda, despite the lack of the possibility of holding face-to-face meetings.