Article
UN lifts ban on diamond imports from Ivory Coast
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously…to lift a ban on importing rough diamonds from Ivory Coast…A resolution adopted by the council immediately terminates sanctions imposed in 2005 on diamond imports from the west African nation. The council noted that the Kimberley Process...recognized...that Ivory Coast had fulfilled its diamond certification scheme’s minimum requirements…U.N. experts have said that hundreds of millions of dollars have been lost from smuggling and illegal dealings in...[cocoa, cashews,] timber, oil, gold and diamonds, and a parallel taxation system. The Security Council called on Ivorian authorities to continue taking measures "to dismantle the illegal taxation networks".