What lies ahead in the diamond industry in the next five to ten years?
BE: In the next five years, we envision considerable progress. In ten years, we believe that the jewelry industry will have coalesced around a set of fair trade standards. One or more independent bodies will be tasked with certifying fair trade diamonds and with monitoring compliance with the standards. Most important, independently certified fair trade diamonds will become available to consumers. As for the Kimberley Process, it is clear to us that it has failed to live up to even its own limited objectives. The organization does not address severe human rights abuses, does not regulate cutting and polishing centers, and is easily circumvented through smuggling. Last fall, even when its own review mission recommended suspending Zimbabwe for killings, torture, forced labor, and other abuses in the country’s mining fields, the Kimberley Process chose to keep Zimbabwe as a member country. Ian Smillie, one of the architects of the Kimberley Process, summed up the organization’s failures q
