Diamonds Are The Latest Industry To Benefit From Blockchain Technology – by Pamela Ambler (Forbes Magazine – September 10, 2017)

https://www.forbes.com/

Blood diamonds from the commodity rich country of Central African Republic (CAR) have made their way to the online marketplace of Facebook. This is according to an investigative report by Global Witness, an NGO that works to fight natural resource exploitation.

Illegal digital activities were unveiled through a social media profile for a fictitious buyer. The organization found that messenger platforms such as WhatsApp have also been used as a tool to smuggle conflict stones into the international supply chain.

To stem the flow of conflict diamonds, the United Nations came to a landmark decision in early 2000 called the Kimberley Process. A three-step verification method was introduced wherein mining countries were required to provide a declaration of each stone.

Over 75 of the world’s diamond producing counties comply with the scheme to set import export control systems. But the resolution only covers rough diamonds used by rebel groups to finance wars against legitimate governments.

The process doesn’t address the broader range of human rights violations that are often associated with the trade. Venezuela for example, was removed from the Kimberley Process after they failed to demonstrate strong legislation to verify the legitimacy of its diamonds.

For the rest of this article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamelaambler/2017/09/10/how-blockchain-is-fixing-the-diamond-industrys-rampant-ethical-issues/#3d615cb625bc