The Mozambique government has banned, as of Thursday, the export of gems, precious and semi-precious stones produced in the country without a certificate of origin, to promote transparency in the trade of these products and prevent the financing of illicit activities.
To mark the entry into force of the ban, Mozambique’s minister of mineral resources and energy, Max Tonela, launched the certificate of origin in the city of Chimoio, capital of central Manica province, one of the richest in mineral resources.
“With the certification, we want to ensure that the production, sale and export of gems, precious and semi-precious stones are done with the greatest transparency and generate more gains for the economy of the Mozambique and the communities,” Tonela said.
He also said that this will also prevent mineral resources produced in Mozambique generating money to finance money laundering and terrorism.
Max Tonela also defended the retention of more tax revenues from a greater inspection of the sector, imposed by the obligation to obtain a certificate of origin.
“The certification will allow the mineral resources produced and exported by Mozambique to be more valued and gain a greater contribution to State revenues,” he said.
Certification of the origin of gems, precious and semi-precious stones will be carried out by the Kimberley Process Management Unit (UGPK), an entity under the Mozambican Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy.
The certification process will involve specialised technicians from Mineral Resources, the Tax Authority and the Police.
The executive secretary of the UGPK, Castro Elias, said on the occasion that the entity was now working for the country to be accepted into the so-called “Kimberley Process,” an international mechanism that controls the management of certification of the origin and legality of diamonds.
“If we are accepted in the Kimberley Process, we will be in a position to start the diamond certification process, which will be important when we start producing diamonds,” Castro Elias said.
Elias said that Mozambique’s entry into the Kimberley Process would be a determining factor in attracting investors to prospect and research this mineral.
The Kimberley Process was set up to prevent the sale of so-called blood diamonds, extracted in conflict zones and used to fuel ongoing illegal wars.
Source: AIM
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