L 35828 Official Journal of the European Communities 31.12.2002 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2368/2002 of 20 December 2002 implementing the Kimberley Process certification scheme for the international trade in rough diamonds THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 133 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Whereas: 1 The sanctions adopted by the United Nations Security Council against the rebel movements in Sierra Leone and Angola and against the Liberian government, prohi- biting under certain conditions imports of rough diamonds from Liberia, Angola and Sierra Leone have not been able to stop the flow of conflict diamonds into the legitimate trade or to bring the conflicts to a halt. The Goteborg European Council of June 2001 endorsed a programme for the prevention of violent conflicts, which states, inter alia, that the Member States and the Commission will tackle the illicit trade in high-value commodities, including by identifying ways of breaking the link between rough diamonds and violent conflicts and supporting the Kimberley Process. Council Regulation (EC) No 303/2002 of 18 February 2002 concerning the importation into the Community of rough diamonds from Sierra Leone (*) prohibits, under certain conditions, the importation of rough diamonds into the Community. There is a need to complement the existing measures with effective controls over the international trade in rough diamonds in order to prevent the trade in conflict diamonds from financing the efforts of rebel movements and their allies to undermine legitimate governments. Effective control will help maintain international peace and security and will also protect the revenue from exports of rough diamonds, which is essential for the development of producer countries in Africa. The Kimberley Process negotiations, bringing together the Community and producer and trading countries representing practically all international trade in rough diamonds, as well as the diamond industry and represen- tatives of civil society, were initiated with a view to developing such an effective control system. They led to the development of a certification scheme. () OJ L 47, 19.2.2002, p. 8. (6) (10) (11) (13) (14) All participants accepted the outcome of the negotia- tions as the basis for implementing measures within their own jurisdiction. In its resolution 56/263 the UN General Assembly welcomed the certification scheme developed in the Kimberley Process and called on all interested parties to participate in that scheme. Implementation of the certification scheme requires that the imports and exports of rough diamonds into or from the territory of the Community be made subject to the certification scheme, including the issue of the relevant certificates by participants in the scheme. Each Member State may designate the authority or authorities responsible for the implementation of the relevant provisions of this Regulation within its territory and may limit the number of authorities. The validity of certificates for imported rough diamonds should be properly verified by the competent authorities of the Community. Compliance with this Regulation should not be construed as equivalent or as an alternative to compli- ance with any other requirements under Community legislation. In order to increase the effectiveness of the certification scheme, circumvention or attempts to circumvent should be prevented. Likewise, providers of ancillary or directly related services should exercise due diligence in estab- lishing that the provisions of this Regulation are duly applied. Export certificates for rough diamonds should only be issued and validated where there is conclusive evidence that those diamonds have been imported under a certifi- cate. Circumstances may justify that the competent authority of the importing participant should send the competent authority of the exporting participant confirmation of import of shipments of rough diamonds.