How does the Kimberley Process work?

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) obligates its participating governments to employ certain requirements for certifying shipments of rough diamonds as conflict-free.

Thereby, the KPCS aims to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate trade. The KPCS ask of its participating governments:

To meet minimum requirements
To establish national legislation and institutions
To put in place a system of internal controls to eliminate the presence of conflict diamonds from shipments of rough diamonds
To design import and export authorities and controls
To be transparent about the implementation of the requirements
To compile and exchange statistical data

Participants of the KPCS are allowed only to trade with other participants who have met the minimum requirements of the KPCS and only when shipments of rough diamonds are accompanied by a certificate. Exporting KPCS participants must, therefore, be able to trace the rough diamonds to where they were mined. Importing KPCS participants hereby agree not to allow any shipment of rough diamond into their territory without an approved KPCS certificate.

Documents

Download the official KPCS document.

Download co-founder Ian Smillie's explanation of the KPCS.