The Mozambican government has revealed plans to set up three warehouses for the certification of diamonds, precious metals and gems produced in the country. This follows reports by the Portuguese news agency Lusa that the aim of this was to allow the gems to circulate legally in the international market.Mozambique has instituted steps to join the Kimberley Process (KP). This is a multilateral trade regime established in 2003 with the goal of preventing the flow of conflict diamonds. The core of this regime is the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) under which states implement safeguards on shipments of rough diamonds and certify them as “conflict free". As part of this process several reforms are required from governments. The three warehouses are said to be part of the requirements for Mozambique to join the KP.The warehouses will be constructed in Maputo, Manica and Nampula and will be used to control all production of diamonds, precious stones and gems in the country, ensuring they are verified, sealed, certified and exported as per the KP. The executive secretary of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy’s management unit for the Kimberley Certification Process, Castro Elias, was reported as saying that the warehouses would function as a single window because all the services necessary for certification would be available, notably customs and mineral resources inspection services, while the overall system would prevent Mozambique from being used as a corridor for diamonds mined illicitly in other countries.Officials from the KP are expected to visit Mozambique in the near future to verify reforms and ensure that requirements are met.Mozambican officials have said that the Kimberley Process is of extreme urgency for the country which is keen to increase its trade in diamonds and precious stones. “We currently have 47 prospecting and research licences and 78 applications that are running their legal procedures to obtain these licences,” Elias told reporters recently. “We have already had some companies in the field doing the research, but they had to stop because they couldn’t export their samples for analysis.”The KP only requires the certification of diamonds, but Mozambique wants to go further by also applying for international certification of gems in that mechanism in order to bolster the market for local production, according to Lusa.
INSERT: "The warehouses will function as a single window because all the services necessary for certification will be available." – Castro Elias
