Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS)

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is an international system that stops "conflict diamonds" from entering the legal diamond trade. Conflict diamonds, also called "blood diamonds", are rough diamonds that rebel groups sell to buy weapons and fight governments. Under the scheme, every shipment of rough diamonds crossing a border must travel with a government certificate showing that it is conflict-free. Member countries trade rough diamonds only with other members.

Why does it exist?

In the 1990s, civil wars in Sierra Leone, Angola and Liberia were partly paid for by diamonds. Rebel groups seized diamond fields, mined diamonds with forced labour and sold them abroad. The money bought guns, and the wars killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of people. Because a small diamond is easy to hide and very valuable, it was hard to track.

Buyers in other countries had no way to know whether a diamond had funded a war. Pressure from campaign groups and from the United Nations made the industry and governments act.

Where did it come from?

In May 2000, diamond-producing countries in southern Africa met in the town of Kimberley, South Africa, a historic diamond-mining town. This meeting gave the process its name. On 1 December 2000, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 55/56, "The role of diamonds in fuelling conflict", supporting the creation of a certification scheme. In November 2002, ministers met in Interlaken, Switzerland, and agreed the scheme. It came into effect on 1 January 2003. India was among its founding participants.

How does it work?

Think of it like a passport for a parcel of rough diamonds.

1. A country that exports rough diamonds puts them in a tamper-resistant container.
2. Its government issues a Kimberley Process certificate with a unique number, saying the diamonds are conflict-free.
3. The importing country's authority checks the certificate when the parcel arrives and confirms receipt to the exporting country.
4. Each member must have national laws and internal controls to make this work, and must collect and share trade and production statistics.
5. Members may trade rough diamonds only with other members. A non-member cannot legally sell rough diamonds into the system.

Key parts and facts

• Participants: As of 2026, the KP has 60 participants representing 86 countries. The European Union and its 27 member states count as one participant.
• Observers: The World Diamond Council (representing the industry) and the KP Civil Society Coalition (non-governmental organisations) take part as observers.
• Decisions by consensus: Every decision needs the agreement of all participants. Even one country can block a decision.
• Chair rotates each year: A vice-chair is chosen, and the vice-chair becomes chair the next year. The yearly Plenary is the main decision-making meeting; a mid-year Intersessional meeting is also held.
• Peer review: Teams of other members visit a country to check its controls ("review visits").
• It covers only rough diamonds. Cut and polished diamonds are outside the scheme.
• It is not a treaty. The KP is a voluntary arrangement. It is given force through each country's own laws and is backed by UN resolutions.
• Suspension: A country that fails to meet the rules can be suspended. For example, the Central African Republic was suspended in 2013 after unrest there.

India's position and Indian examples

India is the world's largest centre for cutting and polishing diamonds. Industry estimates say around 90% of the world's rough diamonds are cut and polished in India, mostly in Surat (Gujarat) and Mumbai. So India imports huge volumes of rough diamonds and has a big stake in a clean, trusted trade. In India, the Department of Commerce handles KP matters, and the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) is the nodal agency for implementing the KP. India has chaired the KP three times: 2008, 2019 and 2026.

India took over the chair on 1 January 2026, after the post had been contested for about two years. India's stated priorities as chair include stronger governance, digital certification and traceability, and data-driven monitoring. India hosted the 2026 Intersessional meeting in Mumbai in May 2026. Ghana was chosen as vice-chair and is set to chair in 2027.

Commonly confused concepts

• KPCS vs a treaty: The KPCS is not a legally binding treaty. It works through national laws and peer pressure.
• Rough vs polished diamonds: The KPCS covers only rough (uncut) diamonds. Once a diamond is cut and polished, the KP certificate no longer follows it. Industry systems such as the World Diamond Council's "System of Warranties" try to carry the assurance further down the chain.
• Conflict diamonds vs sanctioned diamonds: "Conflict diamond" under the KP means diamonds used by rebel groups against legitimate governments. Diamonds from a country under sanctions by some governments (for example, Western sanctions on Russian diamonds since 2022-23) are a separate matter decided by those governments, not by the KP.
• Natural vs lab-grown diamonds: Lab-grown diamonds are made in factories and are not mined. They fall outside the KP's rough diamond controls. India is also a major producer of lab-grown diamonds.

Issues, criticism and the way forward

• Narrow definition: The KP's definition covers only diamonds that fund rebels against governments. It does not cover human rights abuses, violence by state forces or private security, or forced labour in mining. Civil society groups have long asked for a wider definition. Reform talks failed to reach consensus at the 2025 Plenary in Dubai.
• Consensus rule: Because any one participant can block a decision, reforms and even the choice of chair can get stuck, as happened with the chair for 2026.
• Smuggling and weak controls: Diamonds from areas with weak controls can be smuggled into neighbouring countries and certified there.
• Exit of some civil society groups: Global Witness, one of the campaigners who helped create the scheme, left it in 2011, saying it had failed to deal with abuses.
• Way forward: Digital certificates, traceability using technology from mine to market, a broader definition of conflict diamonds, and a permanent secretariat to make the scheme stronger.

Concepts to Know

• Rough diamond: A diamond as it comes out of the ground, before it is cut and polished into a gem.
• Traceability: The ability to track where a product came from and every step it passed through.
• Plenary: The full annual meeting of all members, where major decisions are taken.
• Civil society: Non-government groups such as charities, campaign groups and community organisations.
• Consensus: A way of deciding where everyone must agree; there is no voting.