Moscow: The Kimberley Process (KP) Intersessional Meeting will be organised as a virtual conference this year, as a precaution against the coronavirus pandemic.

The annual forum, in which member states, civil societies and the diamond industry come together, was scheduled to take place in Moscow from June 8 to 12.

“COVID-19 is a global challenge without parallel in our living history, where the first priority must be public health and safety, and minimizing to the greatest degree the risks posed to our loved ones, neighbors and colleagues,” said Stephane Fischler, president of the World Diamond Council (WDC), which represents the industry at the KP.

The WDC board meeting, which was to take place in Moscow directly before the intersessional, has also been changed. That conference, at which the council will confirm its officers and directors for the next two years, will now be a teleconference, Fischler noted. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) conflict-minerals forum, slated to take place in Paris at the beginning of April, has been canceled.

“When this eventually is behind us, we will take stock of this experience and no doubt appreciate the need for building an even more resilient industry,” Fischler added.