The Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, though a good one, will not be able to stop conflict diamond trade on its own. It needs the support of the entire diamond industry from the diamond producers, to cutters, to bourses, and finally the jewelers. While participant nations and the rest of the diamond industry are being lauded for their efforts in implementing and following the guidelines laid out by the Kimberly Process it has been shown that many jewelers and jewelry retail stores are not holding up their end of the bargain. In 2004 a survey conducted by Global Witness and Amnesty International among diamond jewelers in USA showed that only 11% of the visited stores have a clear policy on conflict diamonds. Jewelers need to have a more active participation in seeing the Kimberly Process push through especially since they are the face of the diamond industry and are the ones who deal with the consumers on a daily basis. If the consumers notice the lack of participation by jewelers they would lose faith in the entire diamond industry.
To address this problem, a new industry website was launched with the aim of getting jewelers to adopt policies against the buying and selling of conflict diamonds as part of their store policy. The new website offers free membership to jewelers in exchange for their promise to abide the policies outlined by the website in accordance to the Kimberly Process. Jewelers then get the privilege of posting a “conflict-free” logo on their websites to show consumers and the rest of the world that they are committed to seeing the Kimberly Process push through.
The new step is simple. It only requires jewelers and jewelry store owners to sign up for membership at the Stop Blood Diamonds website. Membership is free but as mentioned earlier requires members to adopt the site’s policies against conflict diamond trade as part of their store policy. After jewelers and store owners have signed up, they then have the privilege of putting up a Stop Blood Diamonds Conflict Free logo on their websites. The easily identifiable logo will be an effective means for consumers to determine that website’s policies regarding conflict diamonds without having to search through it just to look for a written policy. This will also ease the minds of potential buyers who are becoming increasingly aware and educated about this extremely immoral trade practice.
For those interested in knowing more about acquiring the logo for their site you can visit StopBloodDiamonds and read more about the policies your store need to adopt to be able to join. Costumers can also visit the website to know more about conflict diamonds and what the diamond industry is doing regarding the issue.
If you are a jeweler and want to help show the world that you care please visit www.stopblooddiamonds.com
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