How does blockchain root out blood diamonds from the world’s supply market? – by Peter Sabine (South China Morning Post – October 5, 2019)

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From provenance to payment, blockchain has become an attractive option for major diamond companies like De Beers that want to track origin and other information vital to their credibility with buyers

The diamond industry is getting a boost with a distributed ledger treatment, offering crucial advantages for all supply chain parties. For purchasers of diamonds, transactions can be soured by numerous perils such as origin, quality and fakes.

The concept of using blockchain in the industry is nothing new, but has arguably risen to prominence in response to the issue of blood diamonds, also known as conflict diamonds.

These are a major problem for the market due to highly publicised controversies, including a connection to everything from war to child labour. The gems are mined in war zones and sold to fund a range of activities, be it an insurgency or a warlord’s reign.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) was set up to handle the task of eliminating blood diamonds from the market. Under a United Nations mandate, 54 countries, including the European Union acting as one nation, are committed to removing conflict diamonds from the global supply chain.

These are defined as “rough diamonds used to finance wars against governments around the world”. The core of the initiative is the KPCS, under which states implement safeguards on shipments of rough diamonds and certify them as “conflict-free”.

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