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MR. TAKEO AKIBA
Director of United Nations Policy
Division Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
At the General Assembly Meeting on Item
36:
The Role of Diamonds in Fuelling Conflicts
13 March 2002
Mr. President,
Let me at the outset say that the Government
of Japan welcomes the draft resolution, which was just introduced
by H.E. Ambassador Kumalo of South Africa. Indeed, this represents
the progress achieved in the Kimberley Process during the
past year. My Government would like to express its sincere
appreciation to the South African Secretariat for its work
in facilitating that progress. We also pay tribute to those
Governments that hosted the Kimberley Process Meetings in
the course of the past year, namely, the Governments of Namibia,
Belgium, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, Angola
and Botswana.
Since it started with the Technical Forum
on Diamonds held in Kimberley, South Africa under that countryfs
chairmanship in May 2000, and in accordance with General Assembly
resolution 55/56, the Kimberley Process has enjoyed ever greater
participation. Japan has been participating actively in the
discussions since joining the Process at its meeting in Namibia
in February 2001. The Kimberley Process involves not only
representatives of governments, but also representatives of
regional economic integration organizations and other relevant
international organizations, the diamond industry and civil
society. At its successive meetings these participants have
focused their discussion on the essential elements of an international
scheme of certification for rough diamonds with a view to
breaking the link between armed conflict and the trade in
rough diamonds.
Conflict diamonds are also identified in the
gG8 Miyazaki Initiatives for Conflict Preventionh as one
of the major issues which must be tackled by the international
community. Although Japan is not a major trading country of
rough diamonds, my Government has been participating actively
in the Kimberley Process discussions as an effective means
of conflict prevention.
Mr. President,
The document titled gEssential Elements of
an International Scheme of Certification for Rough Diamonds
with a View to Breaking the Link between Armed Conflicts and
the Trade in Rough Diamondsh was adopted by consensus at
the Ministerial Meeting in Botswana last November. Several
parts of the document, however, need further consideration.
The international scheme was negotiated taking into account
the elements described in General Assembly resolution 55/56,
to which I referred earlier. These include the recommendations
that the envisaged scheme should be effective and pragmatic,
should be consistent with international law, should not impede
the current legitimate trade in diamonds, should be based
primarily on national certification schemes, and should secure
the widest possible participation.
In order to ensure the effectiveness of such
international scheme, my Government would like to stress in
particular that, first, the international scheme should enjoy
the widest possible participation and second, it should be
in conformity with international law and not impede legitimate
trade in rough diamonds. My delegation strongly hopes that
the importance of these two points will be recognized in this
session of the General Assembly and will be properly reflected
in the draft resolution to be adopted. At the same time, my
Government would like to call upon those who have not yet
joined the Kimberley Process to do so as soon as possible.
The Government of Canada will host the next
Kimberley Process Meeting in Ottawa. My Government would like
to thank it in advance for hosting the meeting, which will
advance the Process another step forward. With the momentum
generated at this General Assembly session, we look forward
to a constructive discussion at Ottawa and hope that it will
lead to the early launch of the envisaged international certification
scheme.
Thank you very much.
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