You may often hear the terms “blood diamond”, “war diamond” or “conflict diamond” referred to in the diamond industry. These are diamonds that come from parts of the world where their sale is used to fund violence and bloodshed. In contrast, there are “non conflict diamonds” which means they come from parts of the world where the diamond industry is regulated by the government and is used to provide funding for activities to promote a better quality of life for the inhabitants.

A non conflict diamond does not have anything to do with the "four C’s" of diamonds. It has not necessarily been appraised by one of the appraisal laboratories, such as GIA, EGL or IGI appraisals. Non conflict diamonds come in all shapes and sizes, and in many cases are still in their rough state. The designation of being a conflict free diamond does not affect the price of the diamond, so you don’t have to worry that you will have to pay a higher price for an engagement ring that isn't even made with best value diamonds.

Some of the countries of the world where the diamond trade is one for funding conflict and which you should avoid when you are looking for non conflict diamonds are Angola, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zimbabwe.

Even though the Kimberley Process Report did not come into use for the exporting of diamonds across borders until 2003, the UN placed sanctions on the exporting of diamonds from Angola in 1997. This was the first resolution by the UN against the sale of conflict diamonds from a country where they were brought used to fund activities of war. In essence these sanctions were the start of the non conflict diamond trade.

Sanctions were placed on the diamond trade in Liberia in 2001becasue the country was found to have been using the sale of diamonds to supply arms to Sierra Leone, a country embroiled in Civil War. Al-Qaeda has also bought diamonds from this country. Today however, Liberia is part of the Kimberley Process Report in an attempt to legitimize the diamond industry and attest to the fact that it is selling non conflict diamonds.

Also known as the Ivory Coast, the UN has placed a ban on exports of diamonds from Cote d’Ivoire since 2005. The government of the country has suspended all diamond mining in the country because it was being used as a means of exporting diamonds from Liberia to Sierra Leone.

The Democratic Republic of Congo does not have an official diamond mining industry, which is why all diamonds coming from this area are definitely blood diamonds. The UN does consider the diamonds coming from Zimbabwe to be non conflict diamonds, but there is a problem with the process in that there is a lot if smuggling taking place and the conditions occurring at Marange are very chaotic.

The Kimberley Process Certification for non conflict diamonds helps to identify diamonds coming from countries where the sale is used for humanitarian good. The initial resolution was adopted at Antwerp in 2000 as an attempt to block the sale of conflict diamonds. The stones must be transported in sealed packages and crates and can only be opened at their destination.

While the world applauds the efforts of the UN in trying to curtail the sale of conflict diamonds, there are still problems in how it is monitored. Any country can become part of the process by submitting a letter to the president of the European Commission. There is no inspection of the diamond industry in the country so it is possible that the diamonds are actually blood diamonds.