Kimberley Process pilot uses blockchain to solve diamond authenticity verification problem

A new report from the chair of the Kimberley Process ^[1] (Kimberley Process International Certification Scheme) suggests that the UN-backed regulatory regime is moving toward blockchain solutions.

It is reported that this internal trial was first announced at the beginning of this year, when the Dubai Global Blockchain Committee announced seven blockchain pilot projects, and the diamond authenticity verification project was one of them.

While the report does not reveal many details (it has been promised that an update will be released in a few months), it also highlights the Kimberley Process’s continued interest in the application of blockchain in the supply chain field.

The report states:

“The Kimberley Process Chair’s Office is committed to reviewing the benefits of blockchain and will use the technology in a pilot project to monitor Kimberley Process certification statistics. An update on the project will be provided at the group’s meeting in November 2016.”

Participants hope to reduce the problem of fraud in Kimberley Process certificates or documents used to prove the legitimacy of diamonds.

However, as Motherboard magazine has reported, the diamond certification system is rife with fraud, with numerous instances of forged certificates used to boost fraudulent diamond sales over the past decade.

Therefore, people hope to introduce an immutable digital certificate to help alleviate the problem of certificate forgery. However, it should be clear that this solution is still in a very early stage of development.

Notes (↵ returns to text)

1. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is essentially a regulatory system for the import and export of rough diamonds. Producing countries are responsible for managing the production and transportation of rough diamonds from the mine to the export location. Each shipment of rough diamonds to be exported is packaged in a tamper-proof container and accompanied by a Kimberley Process certificate issued by the exporting government authority. The import of rough diamonds without a certificate issued by a Kimberley Process member and the export of rough diamonds to non-Kimberley Process members are prohibited. ↵