Tsuen Wan International: U.S. opposes sale of Zimbabwe diamonds despite Kimberly approval.

June 28, 2011 - PRLog -- Tsuen Wan International has been informed that the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme recently granted Zimbabwe permission to trade Marange and Mbada gems unconditionally.

The US however said has announced that it is disappointed by the KPCS' decision allowing Zimbabwe to trade in its Marange diamonds, where Zimbabwean security forces are reported by human rights groups, to be using terror and forced labour to mine the diamonds.


"The United States believes that progress with respect to exports from the Marange area of Zimbabwe can occur solely through a mechanism agreed to by consensus among KP participants," Victoria Nuland, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told Tsuen Wan International.

Nuland went on to say, "We believe that work towards a solution must continue, and that until consensus is reached, exports from Marange should not proceed." She also claimed that there was no consensus at the Kinshasa meeting on the sale of Marange diamonds.

"The Kinshasa Intercessional did not reach a consensus text. The Chair has circulated a text to participants which did not attract consensus," she told Tsuen Wan International.

The U.S. has been a strong supporter of the Kimberly Process in the past and hopes to find a way forward for the Kimberley Process that includes Zimbabwe and preserves the integrity of the process.

Many African member nations are in support of Zimbabwe and say that the opposition to the Marange diamonds is an effort by the west to control the diamond industry.

The U.S. however did applaud such nations as the Central African Republic, Ghana, Guinea and Liberia for effective diamond sector governance.

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