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Brussels - The European Union on Monday lauded recent progress to end the trade in 'blood diamonds' and called for more efforts to improve monitoring of the illegal diamond trade.
Five years after its inception, the Kimberley Process to control the trade in diamonds from conflict zones, was becoming more successful, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said.
"Looking at how things have changed since the early days of the Kimberley Process, the contrast is dramatic," she told delegates of more than 70 nations at the opening of the four-day plenary meeting. "Really, diamonds are no longer a rebel's best friend.
"The Kimberley Process has become more effective," she said.
The global watchdog group was set up in 2002 to stem the flow of conflict diamonds that have fuelled and funded wars across Africa, especially during the 1990s, including Angola, Congo, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Participants in the group are forced to certify origins of the diamonds being traded aren't used to finance wars.
The 27-nation EU is a key participant, since more than 80% of rough diamonds end up in the world's major trading post, Antwerp, Belgium.
At the annual meeting, the member nations will seek to further improve controls over the trade.
- Dow Jones