I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1415

To implement effective measures to stop trade in conflict diamonds, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 25, 2003

Mr. HOUGHTON (for himself, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. CRANE, Mr. 

LEVIN, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. 

NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. JEFFERSON, and Mr. BECERRA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Ways 

and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To implement effective measures to stop trade in conflict 

diamonds, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Diamond Trade 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) Funds derived from the sale of rough dia2 monds are being used by rebels and state actors to 

3 finance military activities, overthrow legitimate gov4 ernments, subvert international efforts to promote 

5 peace and stability, and commit horrifying atrocities 

6 against unarmed civilians. During the past decade, 

7 more than 6,500,000 people from Sierra Leone, An8 gola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo 

9 have been driven from their homes by wars waged 

10 in large part for control of diamond mining areas. 

11 A million of these are refugees eking out a miserable 

12 existence in neighboring countries, and tens of thou13 sands have fled to the United States. Approximately 

14 3,700,000 people have died during these wars. 

15 (2) The countries caught in this fighting are 

16 home to nearly 70,000,000 people whose societies 

17 have been torn apart not only by fighting but also 

18 by terrible human rights violations. 

19 (3) Human rights and humanitarian advocates, 

20 the diamond trade as represented by the World Dia21 mond Council, and the United States Government 

22 have been working to block the trade in conflict dia23 monds. Their efforts have helped to build a con24 sensus that action is urgently needed to end the 

25 trade in conflict diamonds. 
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1 (4) The United Nations Security Council has 

2 acted at various times under chapter VII of the 

3 Charter of the United Nations to address threats to 

4 international peace and security posed by conflicts 

5 linked to diamonds. Through these actions, it has 

6 prohibited all states from exporting weapons to cer7 tain countries affected by such conflicts. It has fur8 ther required all states to prohibit the direct and in9 direct import of rough diamonds from Sierra Leone 

10 unless the diamonds are controlled under specified 

11 certificate of origin regimes and to prohibit abso12 lutely the direct and indirect import of rough dia13 monds from Liberia. 

14 (5) In response, the United States implemented 

15 sanctions restricting the importation of rough dia16 monds from Sierra Leone to those diamonds accom17 panied by specified certificates of origin and fully 

18 prohibiting the importation of rough diamonds from 

19 Liberia. The United States is now taking further ac20 tion against trade in conflict diamonds. 

21 (6) Without effective action to eliminate trade 

22 in conflict diamonds, the trade in legitimate dia23 monds faces the threat of a consumer backlash that 

24 could damage the economies of countries not in25 volved in the trade in conflict diamonds and penalize 
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1 members of the legitimate trade and the people they 

2 employ. To prevent that, South Africa and more 

3 than 30 other countries are involved in working, 

4 through the ‘‘Kimberley Process’’, toward devising a 

5 solution to this problem. As the consumer of a ma6 jority of the world’s supply of diamonds, the United 

7 States has an obligation to help sever the link be8 tween diamonds and conflict and press for imple9 mentation of an effective solution. 

10 (7) Failure to curtail the trade in conflict dia11 monds or to differentiate between the trade in con12 flict diamonds and the trade in legitimate diamonds 

13 could have a severe negative impact on the legiti14 mate diamond trade in countries such as Botswana, 

15 Namibia, South Africa, and Tanzania. 

16 (8) Initiatives of the United States seek to re17 solve the regional conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa 

18 which facilitate the trade in conflict diamonds. 

19 (9) The Interlaken Declaration on the Kim20 berley Process Certification Scheme for Rough Dia21 monds of November 5, 2002, states that Partici22 pants will ensure that measures taken to implement 

23 the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for 

24 Rough Diamonds will be consistent with inter25 national trade rules. 
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) CONTROLLED THROUGH THE KIMBERLEY

4 PROCESS CERTIFICATION SCHEME.—An importation 

5 or exportation of rough diamonds is ‘‘controlled 

6 through the Kimberley Process Certification 

7 Scheme’’ if it is an importation from the territory of 

8 a Participant or exportation to the territory of a 

9 Participant of rough diamonds that is—

10 (A) carried out in accordance with the 

11 Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, as set 

12 forth in regulations promulgated by the Presi13 dent; or 

14 (B) controlled under a system determined 

15 by the President to meet substantially the 

16 standards, practices, and procedures of the 

17 Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. 

18 (2) EXPORTING AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘ex19 porting authority’’ means one or more entities des20 ignated by a Participant from whose territory a 

21 shipment of rough diamonds is being exported as 

22 having the authority to validate the Kimberley Proc23 ess Certificate. 

24 (3) IMPORTING AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘im25 porting authority’’ means one or more entities des26 ignated by a Participant into whose territory a ship-
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1 ment of rough diamonds is imported as having the 

2 authority to enforce the laws and regulations of the 

3 Participant regulating imports, including the 

4 verification of the Kimberley Process Certificate ac5 companying the shipment. 

6 (4) KIMBERLEY PROCESS CERTIFICATE.—The 

7 term ‘‘Kimberley Process Certificate’’ means a for8 gery resistant document of a Participant that dem9 onstrates that an importation or exportation of 

10 rough diamonds has been controlled through the 

11 Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and con12 tains the minimum elements set forth in Annex I of 

13 the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. 

14 (5) KIMBERLEY PROCESS CERTIFICATION

15 SCHEME.—The term ‘‘Kimberley Process Certifi16 cation Scheme’’ means those standards, practices, 

17 and procedures of the international certification 

18 scheme for rough diamonds presented in the docu19 ment entitled ‘‘Kimberley Process Certification 

20 Scheme’’ referred to in the Interlaken Declaration 

21 on the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for 

22 Rough Diamonds of November 5, 2002. 

23 (6) PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘Participant’’ 

24 means a state, customs territory, or regional eco-
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1 nomic integration organization identified by the Sec2 retary of State. 

3 (7) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in4 dividual or entity. 

5 (8) ROUGH DIAMOND.—The term ‘‘rough dia6 mond’’ means any diamond that is unworked or sim7 ply sawn, cleaved, or bruted and classifiable under 

8 subheading 7102.10, 7102.21, or 7102.31 of the 

9 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. 

10 (9) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 

11 States’’, when used in the geographic sense, means 

12 the several States, the District of Columbia, and any 

13 commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United 

14 States. 

15 (10) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

16 ‘‘United States person’’ means—

17 (A) any United States citizen or any alien 

18 admitted for permanent residence into the 

19 United States; 

20 (B) any entity organized under the laws of 

21 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 

22 United States (including its foreign branches); 

23 and 

24 (C) any person in the United States. 
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1 SEC. 4. MEASURES FOR THE IMPORTATION AND EXPOR2 TATION OF ROUGH DIAMONDS. 

3 (a) PROHIBITION.—The President shall prohibit the 

4 importation into, or exportation from, the United States 

5 of any rough diamond, from whatever source, that has not 

6 been controlled through the Kimberley Process Certifi7 cation Scheme. 

8 (b) WAIVER.—The President may waive the require9 ments set forth in subsection (a) with respect to a par10 ticular country for periods of not more than 1 year each, 

11 if, with respect to each such waiver—

12 (1) the President determines and reports to the 

13 Congress that such country is taking effective steps 

14 to implement the Kimberley Process Certification 

15 Scheme; or 

16 (2) the President determines that the waiver is 

17 in the national interests of the United States, and 

18 reports such determination to the Congress, together 

19 with the reasons therefor. 

20 SEC. 5. REGULATORY AND OTHER AUTHORITY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized to 

22 and shall as necessary issue such proclamations, regula23 tions, licenses, and orders, and conduct such investiga24 tions, as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

25 (b) RECORDKEEPING.—Any United States person 

26 seeking to export from or import into the United States 
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1 any rough diamonds shall keep a full record of, in the form 

2 of reports or otherwise, complete information relating to 

3 any act or transaction to which any prohibition imposed 

4 under section 4(a) applies. The President may require 

5 such person to furnish such information under oath, in6 cluding the production of books of account, records, con7 tracts, letters, memoranda, or other papers, in the custody 

8 or control of such person. 

9 (c) OVERSIGHT.—The President shall require the ap10 propriate Government agency to conduct annual reviews 

11 of the standards, practices, and procedures of any entity 

12 in the United States that issues Kimberley Process Certifi13 cates for the exportation from the United States of rough 

14 diamonds to determine whether such standards, practices, 

15 and procedures are in accordance with the Kimberley 

16 Process Certification Scheme. The President shall trans17 mit to the Congress a report on each annual review under 

18 this subsection. 

19 SEC. 6. IMPORTING AND EXPORTING AUTHORITIES. 

20 (a) IN THE UNITED STATES.—For purposes of this 

21 Act—

22 (1) the importing authority shall be the United 

23 States Bureau of Customs and Border Protection or, 

24 in the case of a territory or possession of the United 
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1 States with its own customs administration, 

2 analagous officials; and 

3 (2) the exporting authority shall be the Bureau 

4 of the Census. 

5 (b) OF OTHER COUNTRIES.—The Secretary of State 

6 shall publish in the Federal Register a list of all Partici7 pants, and all exporting authorities and importing authori8 ties of Participants. The Secretary shall update the list 

9 as necessary. 

10 SEC. 7. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

11 The Congress supports the policy that the President 

12 take appropriate steps to promote and facilitate the adop13 tion by the international community of the Kimberley 

14 Process Certification Scheme implemented under this Act. 

15 SEC. 8. ENFORCEMENT. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b)—

17 (1) a civil penalty of not to exceed $10,000 may 

18 be imposed on any person who violates, or attempts 

19 to violate, any license, order, or regulation issued 

20 under this Act; and 

21 (2) whoever willfully violates, or willfully at22 tempts to violate, any license, order, or regulation 

23 issued under this Act shall, upon conviction, be fined 

24 not more than $50,000, or, if a natural person, may 

25 be imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both; 
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1 and any officer, director, or agent of any corporation 

2 who knowingly participates in such violation may be 

3 punished by a like fine, imprisonment, or both. 

4 (b) IMPORT VIOLATIONS.—Those civil and criminal 

5 penalties, including seizure and forfeiture, under the cus6 toms laws of the United States that apply to goods im7 ported in violation of such laws shall apply with respect 

8 to rough diamonds imported in violation of this Act or any 

9 regulation, license, or order issued under this Act. 

10 SEC. 9. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

11 The President may direct the appropriate agencies of 

12 the United States Government to make available technical 

13 assistance to countries seeking to implement the Kim14 berley Process Certification Scheme. 

15 SEC. 10. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

16 (a) ONGOING PROCESS.—It is the sense of the Con17 gress that the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, of18 ficially launched on January 1, 2003, is an ongoing proc19 ess. The President should work with Participants to 

20 strengthen the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme 

21 through the adoption of measures for the sharing of statis22 tics on the production of and trade in rough diamonds, 

23 and for monitoring the effectiveness of the Kimberley 

24 Process Certification Scheme in stemming trade in dia25 monds the importation or exportation of which is not con-
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1 trolled through the Kimberley Process Certification 

2 Scheme. 

3 (b) STATISTICS AND REPORTING.—It is the sense of 

4 the Congress that under Annex III to the Kimberley Proc5 ess Certification Scheme, Participants recognized that re6 liable and comparable data on the international trade in 

7 rough diamonds are an essential tool for the effective im8 plementation of the Kimberley Process Certification 

9 Scheme. Therefore, the executive branch should continue 

10 to—

11 (1) keep and publish statistics on imports and 

12 exports of rough diamonds under subheadings 

13 7102.10.00, 7102.21, and 7102.31.00 of the Har14 monized Tariff Schedule of the United States; 

15 (2) make these statistics available for analysis 

16 by interested parties and by Participants; and 

17 (3) take a leadership role in negotiating a 

18 standardized methodology among Participants for 

19 reporting statistics on imports and exports of rough 

20 diamonds. 

21 SEC. 11. REPORTS. 

22 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act and every 12 months 

24 thereafter for such period as this Act is in effect, the 

25 President shall transmit to the Congress a report—
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1 (1) describing actions taken by countries that 

2 have exported rough diamonds to the United States 

3 during the preceding 12-month period to control the 

4 exportation of the diamonds through the Kimberley 

5 Process Certification Scheme; and 

6 (2) identifying each country that, during the 

7 preceding 12-month period, exported rough dia8 monds to the United States and was exporting rough 

9 diamonds not controlled through the Kimberley 

10 Process Certification Scheme, if the failure to do so 

11 has significantly increased the likelihood that those 

12 diamonds not so controlled are being imported into 

13 the United States. 

14 (b) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS.—For each country iden15 tified in subsection (a)(2), the President, during such pe16 riod as this Act is in effect, shall, every 6 months after 

17 the initial report in which the country was identified, 

18 transmit to the Congress a report that explains what ac19 tions have been taken by the United States or such coun20 try since the previous report to ensure that diamonds the 

21 exportation of which was not controlled through the Kim22 berley Process Certification Scheme are not being im23 ported from that country into the United States. The re24 quirement to issue a semiannual report with respect to a 

25 country under this subsection shall remain in effect until 
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1 such time as the country is controlling the importation and 

2 exportation of rough diamonds through the Kimberley 

3 Process Certification Scheme. 

4 SEC. 12. GAO REPORT. 

5 Not later than 24 months after the effective date of 

6 this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

7 shall transmit a report to the Congress on the effective8 ness of the provisions of this Act in preventing the impor9 tation or exportation of rough diamonds that is prohibited 

10 under section 4. The Comptroller General shall include in 

11 the report any recommendations on any modifications to 

12 this Act that may be necessary. 

13 SEC. 13. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

14 This Act shall take effect on the date on which the 

15 President certifies to the Congress that—

16 (1) an applicable waiver that has been granted 

17 by the World Trade Organization is in effect; or 

18 (2) an applicable decision in a resolution adopt19 ed by the United Nations Security Council pursuant 

20 to Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations 

21 is in effect. 

22 This Act shall thereafter remain in effect during those pe23 riods in which, as certified by the President to the Con-
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1 gress, an applicable waiver or decision referred to in para2 graph (1) or (2) is in effect.

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