September 7, 2001 6:23pm
Source: Reuters
By Lesley Wroughton
TORONTO (Reuters) - A bill to try to stop trade in Canada in
``blood diamonds'', used to fund long-running African wars, will be
introduced in Parliament this month.
David Pratt, a member of Parliament from the governing Liberal
party, said Friday he will introduce draft legislation on Sept. 17
similar to a bill proposed in the United States. Combined, the bills
would move to keep blood diamonds out of the lucrative North American
market.
There is no guarantee the bill will be passed but Pratt, special
envoy to Sierra Leone for Foreign Minister John Manley, said Canada
should create penalties to dissuade trade in the diamonds, also known
as ``conflict diamonds''.
There may also be some self interest for Canada. The diamond mining
industry in this country has made great play of the fact that its gems
are not from a war zone.
Pratt said blood diamonds were still the main source of funding for
the Revolutionary United Front's war against Sierra Leone president
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's government.
But he said that if both Canada and the United States -- which
combined account for about 55 percent of the world's diamond market --
implemented legislation to curb the flow of blood diamonds, it would
make the trade more difficult.
``You are not going to eliminate the trade in blood diamonds, but
what we can try and do is to make it a lot more difficult for the
people who would trade in conflict diamonds,'' he told Reuters.
In the United States, Tony Hall, an Ohio Democrat, has proposed the
Clean Diamond Act, which would require the certification of a
diamond's origin and build support for global efforts to crack down on
diamond smuggling.
Blood diamonds are believed to account for around 4 percent of the
world's $7 billion trade in uncut stones, mainly in places like
Angola, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
African diamond-producing countries not at war are leading efforts
under the 39-member Kimberley Process to draw up minimum standards for
an international certification system aimed at tracking sales and
exports of diamonds.
``If Canada and the United States were to act jointly, there would
be a huge incentive for diamond-producing countries to get on board
with this certification scheme,'' Pratt said.
He said that Canada was worried that blood diamonds could taint the
legal diamond market, a concern already expressed by major African
producers such as South Africa and Botswana.
Countries like Canada, he added, had to ensure that the Kimberley
Process had the necessary support.
``You need to ensure to the extent that it is possible that the
people involved in the certification process in some of these
countries of origin have training, are well equipped to administer the
domestic program internally.
``What you have to guard against is corruption and the fact that
dirty diamonds could make it into the same package with clean
diamonds.''
Pratt said his bill would also raise more public awareness in
Canada about the problem of blood diamonds.
``There has to be public recognition of the problem that exists and
you can't just take a business-as-usual approach in terms of the
diamond trade.
``Canada has a reputation of being responsible and concerned about
African issues but certainly this is one that does not only affect
Africa but affects us in our own backyard.''
^ REUTERS@
CANADIAN MINING NEWS
