I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5564
To prohibit the importation of diamonds unless the countries exporting the
diamonds to the United States have in place certain controls to verify
the source of the diamonds, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 26, 2000
Mr. HALL of Ohio (for himself, Mr. WOLF, and Ms. MCKINNEY) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To prohibit the importation of diamonds unless the countries
exporting the diamonds to the United States have in
place certain controls to verify the source of the dia-
monds, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Conflict Diamonds
Elimination Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTATION OF DIAMONDS.
(a) RESTRICTIONS.—Diamonds may not be imported
into the United States unless the country exporting the
diamonds to the United States is either implementing a
system of controls on the export and import of rough dia-
monds or is a signatory to an international agreement, or
a participant in an international arrangement, that estab-
lishes a system of controls on the export and import of
rough diamonds. Such a system of controls may include
the following:
(1)(A) The diamonds, when exported from the
country in which they were mined, were sealed in a
secure container by appropriate government officials
of that country.
(B) The sealed container includes a government
document that certifies the country as the country of
origin of the diamonds and includes a unique export
registration number for the diamonds and the total
carat weight of the diamonds.
(C) Appropriate government officials have en-
tered into a database controlled by the government
the export registration number for the diamonds and
the total carat weight of the diamonds.
(2) Any country importing the diamonds prior
to polishing or other processing—
(A) permits importation of the diamonds
only in a container described in paragraph (1);
and
(B) verifies, by electronic or other reliable
means of verification, the information set forth
in the export document included in the sealed
container in which the diamonds were shipped.
(b) MONITORING.—The President shall ensure that
the system of controls described in subsection (a) is either
monitored by an appropriate agency of the United States
or, in the case of a system of controls established by an
international agreement or arrangement, by an organiza-
tion specified in the agreement or arrangement.
SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT.
The President shall transmit to the Congress, not
later than September 30th of each year, a report describ-
ing and evaluating the system of controls on trade in dia-
monds described in section 2(a) and identifying those
countries that are implementing such controls.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of the Congress that the President
should take the necessary steps to negotiate an inter-
national agreement or arrangement to eliminate the trade
in diamonds used to support conflict in the regions in
which the diamonds are mined.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE AND WAIVERS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection
(b), this Act shall take effect 6 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(b) DELAY IN EFFECTIVE DATE.—If, not later than
the end of the 6-month period described in subsection (a),
the President—
(1) determines that a system of controls on the
export and import of rough diamonds has not been
implemented by exporting countries (as described in
section 2(a)), and that an international agreement
or arrangement that establishes a system of controls
on the export and import of rough diamonds (as de-
scribed in section 2(a)) has not been concluded, and
(2) transmits that determination to the Con-
gress, together with a description of the progress in
the implementation of such a system by exporting
countries and in concluding such an agreement or
arrangement,
then this Act shall take effect 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(c) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The President may waive
the applicability of this Act with respect to a country for
periods of not more than 6 months each if the President,
before granting each waiver—
(1) determines that the country is making sig-
nificant progress toward concluding an international
agreement or arrangement establishing, or is other-
wise implementing, a system of controls on the ex-
port and import of rough diamonds described in sec-
tion 2(a)); and
(2) transmits that determination, with the rea-
sons therefor, to the Congress.
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