A FairJewelry.Org Exclusive: An Interview With Lisa Tassi and Michael Dreyfus of DIAMAID
Truly Ethically Mined Diamonds From Africa Are Available Now!
A Swiss company with a radical business model implements multiple fair trade principles bringing us the most responsibly sourced diamonds from Africa in the industry.
Many people do not want to buy African diamonds because the Kimberly Process has so many holes in it. Sin embargo, somos reacios a comprar sólo Canadá o Rusia porque los diamantes africanos legítimos son una parte fundamental de muchas economías. Al apoyar DIAMAID, apoyamos una tendencia positiva en África hacia la minería responsable y ética.
En el Salón de JCK, Me senté con Lisa Tassi y Michael Dreyfus para discutir DIAMAID, una fundación con sede en Ginebra con un producto revolucionario y modelo de negocio. Preguntas de seguimiento se realiza a través de correo electrónico.
La misión de la Fundación es doble DIAMAID:
1.) – Para participar en el desarrollo saludable de los países ricos en diamantes a través de la financiación de la educación y los proyectos relacionados con la salud de las poblaciones más necesitadas en los países productores (miembros del Proceso de Kimberley), asociando el último símbolo de la riqueza – diamantes, con responsabilidad social.
2.) – Desarrollar mecanismos de la cadena de suministro éticas dentro de la industria del diamante con el objetivo de mejorar el nivel de vida de los trabajadores en las minas y en sus comunidades.
Mientras se crea casi todas las empresas para generar beneficios, El objetivo de DIAMAID, como fuente de diamante para el comercio, es dar vuelta a las poblaciones productoras de diamantes. entidades de negocios comerciales tienen la obligación legal de devolver un mínimo de treinta por ciento de sus ganancias generadas por la venta de diamantes a la fundación, que financiará programas para las poblaciones más necesitadas.
FJ: Los mayores desafíos en la producción de diamantes de comercio justo, parece, ha estado en el lado de la oferta. ¿Cómo asegura que los diamantes se producen bajo el protocolo de comercio justo?
Diamaid: La fundación ha definido criterios que se deben cumplir para un productor para cumplir con los requisitos DIAMAID. Participando propietarios de las minas firmar una carta de acuerdo con los principios voluntariamente. El proveedor entonces tiene que pasar por una evaluación exhaustiva de cada criterio para cada mina específica. El tercer paso es una auditoría, ya sea de la fundación o de un tercero, en cuanto a si la evaluación es correcta y cumplió los criterios.
FJ: ¿Cuáles son sus criterios de Comercio Justo?
Diamaid: Hemos establecido un amplio conjunto de criterios más allá del cumplimiento de la legislación nacional y ha desarrollado un enfoque de derechos humanos en relación con: tratamiento no discriminatorio, trabajo infantil, trabajo forzado, salud y seguridad, working conditions, la negociación colectiva y las prácticas disciplinarias. En la parte superior de esta, añadimos otro criterio importante es que la relación con las fuerzas de seguridad, ya que es una zona donde se producen muchos abusos.
FJ: ¿Qué hay de restauración ambiental en los sitios mineros? ¿Hay protocolos?
Diamaid: A partir de hoy nuestro alcance no cubre las preocupaciones ambientales, pero vamos a examinar la manera de integrarlos en el futuro. En otro doblez, vamos a evaluar la viabilidad y relevancia en la financiación de un programa para reducir y curar impacto ambiental negativo en la salud.
FJ: Me gustaría preguntarle sobre el tema del uso de la palabra, “Comercio Justo.” Creo que Transfair, la organización que posee la marca etiquetado de comercio justo, sostiene que lo que está haciendo no es técnicamente “comercio justo”, como se definen por dos razones. Primero, el dinero no se va a volver a la gente en la mina directamente. Es volver a África. Segundo, el proceso no conduce a la propiedad por los mineros de la mina. Me pregunto si está, en sus esfuerzos por ser “el comercio justo,”Diluir la‘marca de comercio justo’. Or, está usando una definición de otra organización de certificación de comercio justo en competencia?
Diamaid: Tienes razón. En realidad no estamos afirmando Feria de diamante, pero los diamantes éticos. La definición de comercio justo es muy preciso y de ningún medio de qué queremos para diluirlo. Otra diferencia clave es que el consumidor no es el que paga la diferencia de coste. Nuestro enfoque es diferente, que combina los estándares de comercio justo, human rights requirements and business voluntary principles to improve and promote best practices and continuous progress within the “regular” diamond industry.
FJ: How do you assure that no conflict diamonds are leaking into the supply chain in the mines?
Diamaid: Bien, this is a great challenge facing the industry, which is why we are only working with actors committing to respect the DIAMAID principles, meeting our transparency requirements and submitting themselves to the auditing and monitoring procedures. We do the maximum to track DIAMAID diamonds along the whole supply chain in order to have the highest guarantee of the respect of our ethical standards.
FJ: Why would these mines want to be fair trade?
Diamaid: Raise of awareness made by several NGOs encouraged suppliers to be more transparent on their practice. It is a way for them to say I am in the diamond business—but I have mines that are “clean”. I believe producers also start to value more the business interest of having workers with better working and living conditions. Finalmente, the rise of awareness among consumers created a demand for diamonds which are not involved in human atrocities.
FJ: So you bypass countries that do not have a mine that can meet your criteria? Por ejemplo, do you have anything going on in Sierra Leon?
Diamaid: We are not working in Sierra Leon as of today. We will absolutely not take diamonds from mines which do not meet our criteria. At the same time, we are developing ways to improve working conditions and standards for countries facing the greatest challenges, where the population really needs revenue generated through diamonds for their survival and development. In that respect, we will tackle Sierra Leone when the opportunity for standard compliance rises.
FJ: Is the supplier given extra money from you to meet these criteria?
Diamaid: No, not at all. The suppliers we work with are committed to social improvements. It is their side of engagement and responsibility to promote and support the values carried by our initiative.…
FJ: How are the diamonds certified and priced to the trade?
Diamaid: Diamonds are GIA or HRD certified. They also come with a DIAMAID certificate which guarantees that the ethical criteria are being fulfilled. The pricing is based on RAP.
FJ: Where is the cutting taking place?
Diamaid: We are developing DIAMAID cutting workshops in South Africa and in Switzerland. We apply the same level of standards to those centers.
FJ: You mentioned that there are two components to your model.
Diamaid: The foundation identifies and works with suppliers willing or engaged in promoting greater human dignity, once certified, diamonds are put on the market through the trading companies accredited by DIAMAID which give back at least 30% of their profit to the foundation. The trading entities have as their main goal to fund humanitarian programs through the DIAMAID foundation and not to make maximum profit for their shareholders. The bigger the trading, the bigger the funding will go back to the foundation.
FJ: Who are the stake holders, and which of the stake holders is the president of the foundation?
Diamaid: The President of the foundation, Christophe Gauthier, is the main share holder of the existing company. He is the one who came up with the concept and who has funded the start up. The DIAMAID initiative is rooted in the ethical leadership of our president.
The initial idea is the foundation, for it to happen concretely there had to be trading units which only sell DIAMAID diamonds. They have been established for the foundation to raise the biggest amount of funds as possible. The trading piece has to be seen as an operating mechanism. Usually it is the opposite: you have a business entity and you set up a foundation to do good. We are a foundation first. The trading entities were develop as the operating way of our funding. In order to prevent any kind of abuse, the “giving back” from the trading company to the foundation is legally binding and therefore does not rely on a philanthropic choice. This is a huge difference with the usual business model. Some business people do think we are a bit crazy!
FJ: Tell me about your president.
Diamaid: Our president has been in the gem stone business since he was fourteen and has been deeply shocked by the impressive gap between living conditions of miners and the cash value of the gem trade. At some point he said, this is enough inequity. This is a sector where you can actually do good. At the same, he has been consistently engaged, on a personal level, in several charity activities and decided to combine his knowledge of a sector and its actors with a personal commitment to greater social justice. He has been able to mobilize and engage the diamond sector to join the project and to make this concept happen and exist.
FJ: How can I be assured that the profit is not being kept low by simply having salaries of employees high? Is there going to be any public disclosure or full transparency of how the income is distributed within the company?
Diamaid: We have on the same logic as Patagonia. That is a % of gross sales or profit, whichever is the highest. The foundation will be very demanding in terms of revenue transparency from the company as well as financial auditing will be conduct by an independent body.
FJ: There are huge issues in appropriate development. How are you assuring that the money is getting to the right place?
Diamaid: We are doing all we can to assure everything is transparent, accountable and clean… We fund NGOs which have demonstrated reliability in terms of programs and finances and which meet our own standards to fund projects.
FJ: Are you going to disclose which organizations you give to and the amount of funds that are given?
Diamaid: Absolutely. There will be full transparency on these aspects. The foundation will yearly communicate on how the money is spent.
FJ: In your business plan, do you intend, also, to sell your diamonds directly to the retail customer, or are you strictly offering the diamonds to the trade?
Diamaid: DIAMAID diamonds will be available to everyone. We have many different prospects. The purchasing of diamonds is open to all.
FJ: How do people get your diamonds now?
Diamaid: It is possible to order directly from us in Europe. We can supply a broad variety of diamonds. It doesn’t matter what the amount of the order is. The trading is meant to generate funds for the foundation’s programs and it will!
Contact Diam-Aid directly at: info@diamaidfoundation.com
An alternative contact to Diamaid is Mr. Christophe Gautier who may be reached via email here:
c.gauthier@diamaidfoundation.com
As of November 1, 2007, we have not been able to contact Diamaid via email or phone despite repeated attempts. If anyone knows the current status of this venture, please contact us.
As of February, 2008 the website for DIAMAID has gone dark. If anyone has any news of them, we would appreciate an update – administración
