NGOS: NEW SURVEY SHOWS U.S. JEWELRY RETAILERS ARE NOT DOING ENOUGH TO COMBAT BLOOD DIAMONDS
Tacy, Israel
A new survey by non-governmental organizations Global Witness and Amnesty International USA shows the US$33 billion-a-year American jewelry retail industry is failing to take adequate measures to help consumers avoid conflict diamonds.
In a survey conducted between December 2006 and February 2007, the human rights groups surveyed the 37 jewelry retailers listed by National Jeweler magazine as the US$100 Million Supersellers. The main findings include the following:
Half of these leading American jewelry retailers failed to respond to the requests to provide information about their policies on blood diamonds.
Fifty six percent of those who did respond reported having no auditing procedures in place to combat blood diamonds, despite the recommendation to do so by the trade association Jewelers of America.
Fifty seven percent of the top jewelers do not have any public information posted on their websites about their policies on blood diamonds.
The survey also noted that a few industry leaders such as Helzberg Diamond Shops, Sterling (Signet) and Tiffany & Co. have taken stronger measures to combat conflict diamonds, including third-party auditing.
“Americans buy half of the diamond jewelry sold worldwide— US$33 billion a year in U.S. sales. We feel that this industry has an obligation—and consumers should demand—that the diamonds that are bought and sold are conflict-free,†explains Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA.
“It is completely reasonable to demand that this industry give consumers adequate assurances that the diamonds they buy are conflict-free, given the devastating human toll of blood diamonds. With such huge profits, retailers should be willing to do more to solve this problem,†notes Charmian Gooch, Founding Director of Global Witness.
To help ensure that the diamond industry is living up to the necessary standards, Amnesty International and Global Witness are calling for the following action:
All sectors of the diamond industry, including the diamond jewelry retail sector, should implement third-party audit measures and responsible sourcing policies;
The U.S. and other governments should carry out stricter oversight of the diamond industry and strengthen and improve enforcement of the Kimberley Process and the Clean Diamond Trade Act.
Jewelry retailers should make their policies on conflict diamonds prominently accessible on their websites.
