KPCS: certificates that travel with the shipment
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, established in 2003 following UN General Assembly Resolution 55/56, exists to keep conflict diamonds — rough diamonds financing rebel movements against governments — out of legitimate trade. Its participants represent countries covering an estimated 99.8% of global rough diamond production.
Its mechanics are strikingly physical:
- Every rough diamond shipment crossing an international border travels in a tamper-resistant, sealed container.
- Each shipment carries an original, government-issued KP Certificate — a legal document at the consignment level.
- Trade is permitted only between participant countries; a shipment cannot legally move between a member and a non-member.
- At import, a government official physically opens and verifies the sealed container and certificate before the shipment proceeds.
That import step deserves emphasis: it is a mandatory, government-executed, physical verification — procedurally far more rigid than customs clearance in the metals chain, and it is why the stones chain models the Government Import Audit as its own checkpoint type.
RJC: credentials that attach to the business
The Responsible Jewellery Council works on the opposite axis. Where KP certifies shipments, RJC certifies businesses — cutters, polishers, manufacturers, and retailers across diamonds, coloured gemstones, and precious metals in jewellery. Its code-of-practices and chain-of-custody certifications are what the final chain-of-custody audit checks before finished goods reach retail.
Where each system stops
The KPCS is periodically criticised for its narrow formal scope: it covers rough diamonds financing rebel groups against governments, not broader human-rights abuses or state-linked violence. A KP certificate alone is therefore not full ethical assurance — and compliance messaging that implies otherwise overclaims. Serious provenance work layers the systems: KP certificates at the shipment level, RJC credentials at the business level, and registered chain-of-custody records connecting the two.
What this means for a platform registry
The two models translate into two different kinds of record. A rough consignment carries a KP Certificate reference, country of origin, and participant-country validation status. A cutter, manufacturer, or retailer holds an RJC membership status — a business credential closer in kind to a CRAFT Scheme affiliation than to any shipment document. A credible registry keeps the two distinct rather than flattening them into one “compliance” flag.