Mozambique: Country on ‘good track’ to sell certified diamonds

Mozambique’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday announced that the country is on the right track in complying with international procedures required for the sale of certified diamonds as part of the so-called Kimberley Process.

“We are very advanced, we are in an advanced stage of compliance with the international certification requirements, we are on the right track,” said the spokesman for the cabinet meeting, Filimão Suaze.

Suaze said that the country had passed legislation and regulations, established the Kimberley Process Management Unit (KPMU), set up diamond warehouses and is training staff in diamond business classification and transparency.

“In September, a team of international experts on the Kimberley Process will come to Mozambique to verify the steps already taken for the country to trade certified diamonds,” said the spokesman for the cabinet meeting.

The country wants diamonds, gems and precious stones it will place on the international market to be free of doubts about the legality of their extraction.

The Kimberley Process is an international mechanism that advocates transparency in business and combats the sale of diamonds mined in war zones, the revenue from which is used to fund armed and illegitimate violence.

Source: Lusa