Directs the President to prohibit the entry of polished diamonds and jewelry containing them if there is credible evidence such diamonds are conflict diamonds.
Subjects diamonds imported in violation of these requirements to the seizure and forfeiture laws as well as all criminal and civil laws. Earmarks proceeds for the Leahy War Victims Fund and other specified purposes.
Requires periodic reports on the effectiveness of the U.N. requirements and the requirements of this Act in preventing the importation of conflict diamonds.
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President should negotiate an international arrangement to eliminate the conflict diamond trade and seek U.N. resolutions concerning the diamond trade in additional countries; (2) this Act should not impede the legitimate diamond trade; and (3) companies in diamond extraction and trade should contribute financially to countries seeking to implement effective measures to stop trade in conflict diamonds.
[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2027 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2027
To implement effective measures to stop trade in conflict diamonds, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 18, 2002
Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. DeWine, and Mr. Feingold) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To implement effective measures to stop trade in conflict diamonds, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Clean Diamond Trade Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Funds derived from the sale of rough diamonds are being
used by rebels, state actors, and terrorists to finance
military activities, overthrow legitimate governments, subvert
international efforts to promote peace and stability, and
commit horrifying atrocities against unarmed civilians. During
the past decade, more than 6,500,000 people from Sierra Leone,
Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been
driven from their homes by wars waged in large part for control
of diamond mining areas. A million of these are refugees eking
out a miserable existence in neighboring countries, and tens of
thousands have fled to the United States. Approximately
3,700,000 people have died during these wars.
(2) The countries caught in this fighting are home to
nearly 70,000,000 people whose societies have been torn apart
not only by fighting but also by terrible human rights
violations.
(3) Human rights advocates, the diamond trade as
represented by the World Diamond Council, and the United States
Government recently began working to block the trade in
conflict diamonds. Their efforts have helped to build a
consensus that action is urgently needed to end the trade in
conflict diamonds.
(4) The United Nations Security Council has acted at
various times under chapter VII of the Charter of the United
Nations to address threats to international peace and security
posed by conflicts linked to diamonds. Through these actions,
it has prohibited all states from exporting weapons to certain
countries affected by such conflicts. It has further required
all states to prohibit the direct and indirect import of rough
diamonds from Angola and Sierra Leone unless the diamonds are
controlled under specified certificate of origin regimes and to
prohibit absolutely for a period of 12 months the direct and
indirect import of rough diamonds from Liberia.
(5) In response, the United States implemented sanctions
restricting the importation of rough diamonds from Angola and
Sierra Leone to those diamonds accompanied by specified
certificates of origin and fully prohibiting the importation of
rough diamonds from Liberia. In order to put an end to the
emergency situation in international relations, to maintain
international peace and security, and to protect its essential
security interests, and pursuant to its obligations under the
United Nations Charter, the United States is now taking further
action against trade in conflict diamonds.
(6) Without effective action to eliminate trade in conflict
diamonds, the trade in legitimate diamonds faces the threat of
a consumer backlash that could damage the economies of
countries not involved in the trade in conflict diamonds and
penalize members of the legitimate trade and the people they
employ. To prevent that, South Africa and more than 30 other
countries are involved in working, through the ``Kimberley
Process'', toward devising a solution to this problem. As the
consumer of a majority of the world's supply of diamonds, the
United States has an obligation to help sever the link between
diamonds and conflict and press for implementation of an
effective solution.
(7) Articles XX and XXI of the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade 1994 allow members of the World Trade Organization to
take measures to deal with situations such as that presented by
the current trade in conflict diamonds without violating their
World Trade Organization obligations.
(8) Failure to curtail the trade in conflict diamonds or to
differentiate between the trade in conflict diamonds and the
trade in legitimate diamonds could have a severe negative
impact on the legitimate diamond trade in countries such as
Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Tanzania.
(9) Initiatives of the United States seek to resolve the
regional conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa which facilitate the
trade in conflict diamonds.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Conflict diamonds.--The term ``conflict diamonds''
means--
(A) rough diamonds the importation of which is
prohibited by United Nations Security Council
Resolutions because that trade is fueling conflict;
(B) in the case of rough diamonds not covered by
subparagraph (A), rough diamonds used by any armed
movement or an ally of an armed movement to finance or
sustain operations to carry out systematic human rights
abuses or attacks against unarmed civilians; or
(C) diamonds that evidence shows fund the al-Qaeda
international terrorist network and related groups
designated under Executive Order No. 13224 of September
23, 2001 (66 Federal Register 49079).
(2) Diamonds.--The term ``diamonds'' means diamonds
classifiable under subheading 7102.31.00 or subheading
7102.39.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States.
(3) Polished diamonds.--The term ``polished diamonds''
means diamonds classifiable under subheading 7102.39.00 of the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
(4) Rough diamonds.--The term ``rough diamonds'' means
diamonds that are unworked, or simply sawn, cleaved, or bruted,
classifiable under subheading 7102.31.00 of the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States.
(5) United states.--The term ``United States'', when used
in the geographic sense, means the several States, the District
of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of
the United States.
SEC. 4. MEASURES TO PREVENT IMPORTS OF CONFLICT DIAMONDS.
(a) Authority of the President.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the President shall prohibit, in whole or in part,
the importation into the United States of rough diamonds, and may
prohibit the importation into the United States of polished diamonds
and jewelry containing diamonds, from any country that does not take
effective measures to stop trade in conflict diamonds as long as the
prohibition is consistent with the foreign policy interests of the
United States, including the international obligations of the United
States, or is pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolutions
on conflict diamonds.
(b) Effective Measures.--For purposes of this Act, effective
measures are measures that--
(1) meet the requirements of United Nations Security
Council Resolutions on trade in conflict diamonds;
(2) meet the requirements of an international arrangement
on conflict diamonds, including the recommendations of the
Kimberley Process, as long as the measures also meet the
requirements of United Nations Security Council Resolutions on
trade in conflict diamonds; or
(3) contain the following elements, or their functional
equivalent, if such elements are sufficient to meet the
requirements of United Nations Security Council Resolutions on
trade in conflict diamonds:
(A) With respect to exports from countries where
rough diamonds are extracted, secure packaging,
accompanied by officially validated documentation
certifying the country of origin, total carat weight,
and value.
(B) With respect to exports from countries where
rough diamonds are extracted, a system of verifiable
controls on rough diamonds from mine to export.
(C) With respect to countries that reexport rough
diamonds, a system of controls designed to ensure that
no conflict diamonds have entered the legitimate trade
in rough diamonds.
(D) Verifiable recordkeeping by all companies and
individuals engaged in mining, import, and export of
rough diamonds within the territory of the exporting
country, subject to inspection and verification by
authorized government authorities in accordance with
national regulations.
(E) Government publication on a periodic basis of
official rough diamond export and import statistics.
(F) Implementation of proportionate and dissuasive
penalties against any persons who violate laws and
regulations designed to combat trade in conflict
diamonds.
(G) Full cooperation with the United Nations or
other official international bodies examining the trade
in conflict diamonds, especially with respect to any
inspection and monitoring of the trade in rough
diamonds.
(c) Exclusions.--The provisions of this section do not apply to--
(1) rough diamonds imported by or on behalf of a person for
personal use and accompanying a person upon entry into the
United States; or
(2) rough diamonds previously exported from the United
States and reimported by the same importer, without having been
advanced in value or improved in condition by any process or
other means while abroad, if the importer declares that the
reimportation of the rough diamonds satisfies the requirements
of this paragraph.
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF POLISHED DIAMONDS AND JEWELRY.
The President shall prohibit specific entries into the customs
territory of the United States of polished diamonds and jewelry
containing diamonds if the President has credible evidence that such
polished diamonds and jewelry were produced with conflict diamonds.
SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) In General.--Diamonds and jewelry containing diamonds imported
into the United States in violation of any prohibition imposed under
section 4 or 5 are subject to the seizure and forfeiture laws, and all
criminal and civil laws of the United States shall apply, to the same
extent as any other violation of the customs and navigation laws of the
United States.
(b) Proceeds From Fines and Forfeited Goods.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the proceeds derived from fines imposed for
violations of section 4(a), and from the seizure and forfeiture of
goods imported in violation of section 4(a), shall, in addition to
amounts otherwise available for such purposes, be available only for--
(1) the Leahy War Victims Fund administered by the United
States Agency for International Development or any successor
program to assist victims of foreign wars; and
(2) grants under section 131 of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152a).
SEC. 7. REPORTS.
(a) Annual Reports.--Not later than one year after the effective
date of this Act, and every 12 months thereafter, the President shall
transmit to Congress a report--
(1) describing actions taken by countries that have
exported diamonds to the United States during the preceding 12-
month period to implement effective measures to stop trade in
conflict diamonds;
(2) describing any new technologies since the date of
enactment of this Act for marking diamonds or determining the
origin of rough diamonds;
(3) identifying those countries that have exported diamonds
to the United States during the preceding 12-month period and
are not implementing effective measures to stop trade in
conflict diamonds and whose failure to do so has significantly
increased the likelihood that conflict diamonds are being
imported into the United States;
(4) describing appropriate actions, which may include
actions under sections 4 and 5, that may be taken by the United
States, or actions that may be taken or are being taken by each
country identified under paragraph (3), to ensure that conflict
diamonds are not being imported into the United States from
such country; and
(5) identifying any additional countries involved in
conflicts linked to rough diamonds that are not the subject of
United Nations Security Council Resolutions on conflict
diamonds.
(b) Semiannual Reports.--For each country identified in subsection
(a)(3), the President shall, every 6 months after the initial report in
which the country was identified, transmit to Congress a report that
explains what actions have been taken by the United States or such
country since the previous report to ensure that conflict diamonds are
not being imported from that country into the United States. The
requirement to issue a semiannual report with respect to a country
under this subsection shall remain in effect until such time as the
country implements effective measures.
SEC. 8. GAO REPORT.
Not later than 3 years after the effective date of this Act, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall transmit a report to
Congress on the effectiveness of the provisions of this Act in
preventing the importation of conflict diamonds under section 4. The
Comptroller General shall include in the report any recommendations on
any modifications to this Act that may be necessary.
SEC. 9. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) International Arrangement.--It is the sense of Congress that
the President should take the necessary steps to negotiate an
international arrangement, working in concert with the Kimberley
Process referred to in section 2(6), to eliminate the trade in conflict
diamonds. Such an international arrangement should create an effective
global system of controls covering countries that export and import
rough diamonds, should contain the elements described in section
4(b)(3), and should address independent monitoring, the collection of
reliable statistics on the diamond trade, and the need for a
coordinating body or secretariat to implement the arrangement.
(b) Additional Security Council Resolutions.--It is the sense of
Congress that the President should take the necessary steps to seek
United Nations Security Council Resolutions with respect to trade in
diamonds from additional countries identified under section 7(a)(5).
(c) Trade in Legitimate Diamonds.--It is the sense of Congress that
the provisions of this Act should not impede the trade in legitimate
diamonds with countries which are working constructively to eliminate
trade in conflict diamonds, including through the negotiation of an
effective international arrangement to eliminate trade in conflict
diamonds.
(d) Implementation of Effective Measures.--It is the sense of
Congress that companies involved in diamond extraction and trade should
make financial contributions to countries seeking to implement any
effective measures to stop trade in conflict diamonds described in
section 4(b), if those countries would have financial difficulty
implementing those measures.
SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the President $5,000,000
for each of the fiscal years 2002 and 2003 to provide assistance to
countries seeking to implement any effective measures to stop trade in
conflict diamonds described in section 4(b), if those countries would
have financial difficulty implementing those measures.
SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this
Act.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2011-2012)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2012-2014)
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