Mozambique: Committee recommends admission to diamond trade

The Committee on Participation and Chairmanship of the Kimberley Process , the international body that oversees the diamond trade, on Thursday in Moscow, recommended the admission of Mozambique for dealing in this type of precious stones.

An assessment report presented on Thursday in the Russian capital by the Committee and consulted by Lusa stated that Mozambique meets all the conditions to become a full member of the Kimberley Process.

The international body is meeting in Moscow to decide on the entry of Mozambique in the legal diamond trade, among other matters.

On Wednesday, Castro Elias, executive secretary of the Kimberley Process Management Unit, a Mozambican state institution, had said the country had met all internationally required requirements for exporting diamonds, showing confidence in the country’s admission to the club of states that trade in diamonds.

“What Mozambique did was to take the 2016 [international] report where all the recommendations it had to meet came, and Mozambique met, in full, all the recommendations,” Elias said.

The executive secretary of the Kimberley Process Management Unit was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the plenary meeting of the Kimberley Process, an entity created by the United Nations to prevent the sale of so-called blood diamonds, used to finance illegitimate wars.

Castro Elias said that the country had met the requirements of creating a state unit responsible for assessing and certifying the process of extraction, transport and export, a duly equipped supervisory council, which includes a member of civil society, a trading post and training of specialised staff.

The official said that Mozambique’s acceptance of the international diamond trade would make it possible to issue 40 licenses for prospecting and research and 78 requests for permits, which are inoperative because the country is not yet authorised to trade in that type of product.

“The companies [that are in the area of diamond research and trade] are not doing anything, because Mozambique is not a member of the process and not being a member, they cannot export the finished products,” Elias said.

The country’s entry into the international diamond trade, he said, would result in the creation of jobs and social responsibility on the part of companies, including the construction of social infrastructure.

Castro Elias noted that Mozambique has diamonds in the provinces of Gaza, in the south, Manica and Tete, in the centre, and Niassa, in the north.

The Mozambican delegation to the Kimberley Process plenary meeting is headed by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Max Tonela.

Source: Lusa