[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2722 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]
Calendar No. 248
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2722
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 29, 2001
Received; read the first time
November 30, 2001
Read the second time and placed on the calendar
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
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 and state actors 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) 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.
(8) 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 rough diamonds the import of which is prohibited by
United Nations Security Council Resolutions because that trade
is fueling conflict.
(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.--The President may prohibit, in
whole or in part, imports of rough diamonds into the United States from
any country that does not take effective measures to stop trade in
conflict diamonds as long as the prohibition is--
(1) necessary to protect the essential security interests
of the United States, or pursuant to United Nations Security
Council Resolutions on conflict diamonds; and
(2) consistent with the foreign policy interests of the
United States, including the international obligations of the
United States.
(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 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;
(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; or
(3) rough diamonds for which the importer provides evidence
to the satisfaction of the United States Customs Service (or
analogous officials of a territory or possession of the United
States with its own customs administration) that the
importation does not include conflict diamonds.
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF POLISHED DIAMONDS AND JEWELRY.
The President may prohibit specific entries 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.
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.
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 rough diamonds to the United States during the
preceding 12-month period to implement effective measures to
stop trade in conflict diamonds;
(2) identifying those countries that have exported rough
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;
(3) 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 (2), to ensure that conflict
diamonds are not being imported into the United States from
such country; and
(4) 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)(2), 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, and should contain the elements described in section
4(b)(3).
(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)(4).
(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 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.
Passed the House of Representatives November 28, 2001.
Attest:
JEFF TRANDAHL,
Clerk.
Calendar No. 248
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2722
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To implement effective measures to stop trade in conflict diamonds, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
November 30, 2001
Read the second time and placed on the calendar