Ghana Listed As 'Clean Diamond' Country

Ghana is among 58 participants eligible for trade in rough diamonds with the United States in accordance with the CleanDiamond Trade Act, the US Department of State announced on Monday.

It said that trade would be conducted in accordance with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). The KPCS has its origins in the decision by Southern African diamond-producing countries in 2000 to take action to stop the flow of conflict diamonds to the markets, while at the same time protecting the legitimate diamond industry. Since then, the initiative has grown and evolved to include more than 70 countries involved in the production, export and import, as well as trade in rough diamonds. According to Global Witness, a UK-based NGO working to highlight the links between the exploitation of the natural resources and human rights abuses, the trade in conflict and illicit rough diamonds has funded and prolonged conflicts in Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the DRC Congo, as well as funding international terrorism.

The US Department of State said the list of participants would be updated periodically as additional entities meet the requirements of the Act.

The complete list of approved participants is as follows: Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Australia, Belarus, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, European Community, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Hungary, India, Israel, Japan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Namibia, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. (IRIN).