2007年VOA标准英语-Report Says UK Retailers Not Doing Enough to Co

By Tendai Maphosa
London
29 May 2007

A new survey says that most British diamond retailers¹ are not doing enough to combat trade in diamonds smuggled² from war zones. For VOA, Tendai Maphosa has more from London.

sifter3 to find a diamond stone, in Tortya, Ivory Coast " hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070608/0845450.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

People look into their sifter to find a diamond stone, in Tortya, Ivory Coast

Amnesty International UK and Global Witness surveyed 42 top British diamond retailers and found that nearly 80 percent of them have no auditing⁴ procedures to combat the trade in so-called conflict diamonds.

Of those surveyed, almost a third failed to provide information about their policies regarding conflict diamonds despite repeated requests. And, 62 percent did not post any information on their Web sites about their policies on conflict diamonds.

The survey's findings were released amid reports of continued smuggling⁵ of diamonds from West Africa to the international market.

In 2003, the diamond industry signed the Kimberley Process (KP) agreement. Its aim was to fight the growing illicit⁶ trade and to prevent smuggled diamonds from fueling wars. The industry agreed to provide guarantees on the origin of all diamonds traded or sold to show that they did not come from conflict zones.

The report says trade in conflict diamonds has fueled devastating⁷ civil wars in Sierra Leone, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia in which four million people died.

Global Witness spokeswoman Annie Dunnebacke said the Kimberley Process still has significant loopholes which need to be closed.

"We call on governments to increase their monitoring of the diamond industry, but very importantly we are also calling on the industry to strengthen its own system of controls. The industry has a great deal of responsibility and individual retailers they do have a responsibility to source their diamonds responsibly because they owe it to the consumers," she said.

 

Amnesty International UK and Global Witness published a special "shoppers' guide" to diamond consumers last year. The brochure tells consumers what they need to know when they shop for diamond jewelry⁸ so they can ensure the diamonds are conflict-free.

1 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

2 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

3 sifter   

n.（用于筛撒粉状食物的）筛具，撒粉器；滤器；罗圈；罗

参考例句：

• She sifted thistles through her thistle-sifter. 她用蓟筛筛蓟。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This paper deals with a nitempering process of sifter mesh. 研究了一种筛片的软氮化工艺。 来自互联网

4 auditing   

n.审计，查账，决算

参考例句：

• Auditing standards are the rules governing how an audit is performed.收支检查标准是规则统治一个稽核如何被运行。
• The auditing services market is dominated by a few large accounting firms.审计服务市场被几家大型会计公司独占了。

5 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

6 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

7 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

8 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。