[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5147 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5147

To prohibit the importation of diamonds mined in certain countries, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 12, 2000

 Mr. Hall of Ohio (for himself, Mr. Wolf, and Ms. McKinney) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
                                 Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the importation of diamonds mined in certain countries, 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 ``Consumer Access to a Responsible 
Accounting of Trade Act of 2000''.

                    TITLE I--PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS

SEC. 101. PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS.

    No diamonds that have been mined in or exported from the Republic 
of Sierra Leone, the Republic of Liberia, Burkina Faso, the Republic of 
Cote d'Ivoire, the Republic of Angola, Guinea, Togo, or Ukraine may be 
imported into the United States, except for diamonds--
            (1) the country of origin of which has been certified as 
        the Republic of Sierra Leone by the internationally recognized 
        government of that country, in accordance with United Nations 
        Security Council Resolution 1306 July 5, 2000; or
            (2) the country of origin of which has been certified as 
        the Republic of Angola by the internationally recognized 
        government of that country, in accordance with United Nations 
        Security Council Resolution 1173 of June 12, 1998.

SEC. 102. WAIVERS.

    (a) Certification of No Transshipment.--The Secretary of the 
Treasury may waive the prohibition under section 101 with respect to a 
country listed in that section if the Secretary certifies to the 
Congress that diamonds mined in Sierra Leone or Angola are not being 
transshipped through that country for the purpose of evading any 
prohibition on trade in diamonds exported from Sierra Leone or Angola.
    (b) National Security Interests.--The President may waive the 
prohibition under section 101 with respect to a country listed in that 
section if the President--
            (1) determines that it is in the national security 
        interests of the United States to exercise the waiver; and
            (2) transmits that determination, together with reasons for 
        the determination, to the Congress.

                    TITLE II--CERTIFICATES OF ORIGIN

SEC. 201. CERTIFICATES AND STATEMENTS INDICATING COUNTRY OF MINING.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
        of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, in concurrence with 
        the Special Representative on Conflict Diamonds appointed under 
        section 401, and after consultation with appropriate 
        organizations, Federal agencies, and members of the public, 
        shall issue regulations requiring--
                    (A) diamonds, and
                    (B) products made in whole or in part from 
                diamonds,
        which enter, or are withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, 
        into the customs territory of the United States to be 
        accompanied by a certificate stating the English name (or 
        unmistakable abbreviation) of the country in which the diamonds 
        were mined. Such certificate shall be legible and reasonably 
        conspicuous on the outermost container in which the diamonds or 
        diamond products ordinarily are sold to the ultimate purchaser 
        in the United States.
            (2) The importer of record of diamonds or diamond products 
        shall be responsible for the certificate required by paragraph 
        (1).
    (b) Requirement Applicable to Parcels of Diamonds.--The Secretary 
of the Treasury may by regulation provide that the requirements of 
subsection (a) apply to parcels of diamonds that are imported, rather 
than individual diamonds.

SEC. 202. ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) In General.--Whenever the Secretary of the Treasury determines 
that a person has violated section 201 or regulations issued 
thereunder, the Secretary may issue an order assessing a civil penalty 
of not more than $50,000 for each violation or requiring compliance 
with such section, or the Secretary may commence in the United States 
district court for the district in which the violation occurred a civil 
action for appropriate relief, including a preliminary or permanent 
injunction.
    (b) Criminal Penalties.--Any person who willfully or with the 
intent to defraud violates subsection (a) or (b) of section 201, or any 
regulation issued thereunder, shall--
            (1) upon conviction for the first violation under this 
        subsection, be fined not more than $100,000, or imprisoned for 
        not more than 1 year, or both; and
            (2) upon conviction for the second or any subsequent 
        violation under this subsection, be fined not more than 
        $250,000, or imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both.
    (c) Exemption.--If diamonds or diamond products do not comply with 
any requirement of subsection (a) or (b) of section 201 or any 
regulation issued thereunder, and the Secretary determines that no 
fraud or willful neglect was involved in the failure to so comply, the 
Secretary shall afford the person responsible for complying with such 
requirement a reasonable opportunity to provide the certificate 
required by section 201(a) or the statement required by section 201(b), 
as the case may be.

SEC. 203. EXEMPTION AND WAIVERS.

    (a) Exemption.--The Secretary of the Treasury, in concurrence with 
the Special Representative on Conflict Diamonds appointed under section 
401, may exempt from the requirements of section 201 diamonds and 
diamond products that are valued below a minimum dollar amount 
determined by the Secretary.
    (b) Waivers.--The Secretary of the Treasury may waive the 
requirements of section 201 for periods of not more than 1 year each 
if, for each waiver--
            (1) the Secretary determines that--
                    (A) it is not possible to determine, in a cost-
                effective manner, the country in which the diamonds 
                imported into the United States were mined; or
                    (B) an effective system, such as the system 
                described in title III, is otherwise being implemented 
                that prevents the importation of diamonds, revenues 
                from the sale of which would be used to support 
                continued conflict in the regions in which the diamonds 
                were mined; and
            (2) the Secretary submits that determination, and the basis 
        for the determination, to the Congress.

SEC. 204. REPORTS BY SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.

    The Secretary of the Treasury and the Special Representative on 
Conflict Diamonds shall, not later than 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and not later than the end of each 12-month 
period thereafter, submit to the Congress a joint report on the 
feasibility of identifying the country in which diamonds, both rough 
and cut, were mined.

                    TITLE III--INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS

SEC. 301. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the use of funds from the illegitimate diamond trade to 
        support conflicts in Africa has devastating effects on the 
        peoples of the regions involved in the conflicts;
            (2) United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1306 and 
        1237 prohibit the importation of rough diamonds from Sierra 
        Leone and Angola, except those accompanied by a certificate of 
        origin issued by the government of that country; and
            (3) the initiative of the diamond industry, as presented in 
        the Resolution of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and 
        the International Diamond Manufacturers Association in Antwerp 
        on July 19, 2000, as well as the progress of the South African 
        led Working Group on African Diamonds, in developing proposals 
        for a global certification and monitoring system for diamonds, 
        are important steps toward international controls on 
        ``conflict'' diamonds.

SEC. 302. ACTION BY EXECUTIVE BRANCH.

    The Congress urges the President--
            (1) to take immediate action to develop and implement, 
        together with other governments and organizations, an effective 
        international system for controlling trade in rough diamonds 
        and to direct the appropriate Federal departments and agencies 
        to begin planning for implementation of such a system; and
            (2) once a global certificate of origin system for rough 
        diamonds is in place, including forgery-proof certificates of 
        exports, secure packaging, import and export controls, and an 
        international diamond database, to take appropriate steps to 
        fully adhere to this system, and to actively promote 
        international compliance.

         TITLE IV--SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE ON CONFLICT DIAMONDS

SEC. 401. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE ON CONFLICT DIAMONDS.

    (a) Appointment.--The President shall, not later than 3 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, appoint a Special 
Representative on Conflict Diamonds. The Special Representatives on 
Conflict Diamonds shall hold office at the pleasure of the President 
and shall have the rank of Ambassador.
    (b) Functions.--The Special Representative on Conflict Diamonds 
shall have the following functions:
            (1) To serve as chairperson of an interagency working group 
        established by the President to address the issues relating to 
        the use of proceeds from the sale of diamonds mined in certain 
        regions in Africa to support armed conflict in the countries in 
        these regions. The interagency group shall include 
        representatives of the Department of the Treasury (including 
        the Customs Service), the Policy and Planning Staff and the 
        Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the Department 
        of State, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, 
        and the Department of Commerce.
            (2) To represent the United States at international 
        meetings on the issues described in paragraph (1).
    (c) Reports to Congress.--The Special Representative on Conflict 
Diamonds shall submit to the Congress, not later than 6 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, and not later than the end of 
each 6-month period thereafter, a report on the following:
            (1) In consultation with the intelligence community, on the 
        export of diamonds--
                    (A) from countries subject to an embargo imposed by 
                the United Nations on imports of diamonds from those 
                countries; and
                    (B) from countries through which diamonds subject 
                to such an embargo are transshipped in order to evade 
                the embargo, including Liberia, Burkina Faso, Togo, 
                Cote D'Ivoire, and Ukraine.
            (2) On the development of the proposals relating to the 
        commercial importation of rough diamonds that were adopted in 
        the resolution of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and 
        the International Diamond Manufacturers Association in Antwerp 
        on July 19, 2000, including the status of--
                    (A) regulations of the countries that are the major 
                exporters and importers of diamonds, relating to 
                exports and imports of diamonds;
                    (B) international monitoring and inspection of 
                diamonds that are traded; and
                    (C) an international computer registry of diamonds, 
                and a means of determining the indigenous mining 
                resources of exporting countries.
            (3) On the development of technologies to mark diamonds and 
        technologies to identify the source of diamonds after they are 
        polished.
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