United States Of America Blacklists Marange Diamonds

The United States of America Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued five Withhold Release Orders (WROs) on September 30, with Zimbabwe’s rough diamonds from Marange included on the list as proceeds from forced labour.

Executive Assistant Commissioner, CBP Office of Trade, Brenda Smith had this to say:

CBP is firmly committed to identifying and preventing products made with the use of forced labour from entering the stream of U.S. Commerce.

… our agency works tirelessly behind the scenes to investigate and gather information on forced labour in global supply chains.

Mining of rough diamonds in Marange, Manicaland province, has been mired in controversy since it started several years ago.

In June this year a United States-based firm, Blue Nile, blacklisted diamonds from Zimbabwe due to reported human rights abuses in the Marange.

More: U.S. Government