Britain thinking of going it alone on Marange

Britain might look at alternatives ways to deal with Zimbabwe’s Marange diamonds outside the European Union, the Under Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Henry Bellingham said on Tuesday.

Bellingham was responding to a question by conservative Member of Parliament Zac Goldsmith whether Britain was not frustrated by the slow progress of having to reach an agreement on Marange “through the sluggish EU”.

Goldsmith asked: “Is the Minister frustrated by the hampering of our negotiations on Zimbabwe diamonds as a result of our having to reach agreement through the sluggish EU? Does he agree that it would be better for us to adopt a more robust position on our own terms?”

Bellingham responded: “It is worth bearing in mind that since the start of the Kimberley process, roughly 99% of the world trade in rough diamonds is now Kimberley-compliant. That is a huge improvement on the previous position. As for my hon. Friend’s point about the EU, he has made a very interesting suggestion, and I will certainly examine it.”

The minister had told an earlier question that Britain was working with the EU to push for a robust agreement to ensure that Zimbabwe complied with the Kimberley Process and this included strengthening the role of the Kimberley process monitor.

“The good news is that we have helped to secure broad international support for a new monitoring team led by Mark van Bockstael,” he said. Van Bockstael is generally regarded as the intellectual architect of the KP.

The Marange diamonds have been at the centre of world controversy for nearly three years and a solution is nowhere in sight.

Zimbabwe argues that its mines meet the KP requirements and will not accept any conditional approval by the KP.

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