Israel rejects UN accusations over illegal trade with non-KP members
30/10/2009
Israel rejected accusations by the UN inspection team that said that the country may be involved in trading rough diamonds with the Ivory Coast, a country that is not a member of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
Responding to the United Nations (UN) report recommending that the Israeli government should investigate the possible involvement of Israeli nationals and companies in the illegal export of rough diamonds from Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Israel’s Diamond Controller, Shmuel Mordechai, said, "We are shocked by these false accusations and completely refute them. Israel has been a member of the Kimberley Process (KP), which was established to eradicate illegal trade in rough diamonds, since the day of its inception. We enforce a strict supervisory and enforcement system as is fitting for a world leader of the diamond trade.”
The Diamond Controller’s office at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor is responsible for enforcing KP regulations in Israel. Mordechai also added that they have provided “unequivocal proof” that Israel has never dealt in rough diamond trade from Ivory Coast or any other country that is not a member of the KP.
An Israeli delegation headed by Boaz Hirsch, assistant managing director of foreign trade and head of international activity at Israel’s Ministry of Industry Trade and Labor, will attend the annual international conference of the KP in Namibia from November 2 to 5, 2009, and will also file an official complaint against its inclusion in a list of countries that allegedly deal in conflict diamonds. Israel is the next country to chair the KP and Mr Hirsch will be nominated KP chairman for the coming year.
