Anglo American PLC
16 January 2003
News Release
16 January 2003
Anglo American plc ("Anglo American") notification:
Diamond Trading Company ("DTC") announcement
Anglo American wishes to draw attention to a DTC announcement, the sales and
marketing arm of the De Beers Group of companies, attached hereto.
EU gives green light to Supplier of Choice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Diamond Trading Company (DTC) - the sorting, sales and marketing arm of the
De Beers Group of companies - is pleased that the European Commission today
confirmed that it has adopted a favourable position on the DTC's Supplier of
Choice strategy. This step is the culmination of a detailed and constructive
dialogue with the Commission and of the Commission's consultation with
interested parties.
Supplier of Choice is the DTC's strategy to drive consumer demand for diamond
jewellery in the context of an increasingly competitive luxury goods sector.
Central to this strategy is the ability of the DTC to develop its relationship
with its customers in a manner which will encourage long-term growth at the
retail level. This will be promoted by a set of objective and pro-competitive
criteria - which emphasise distribution efficiency and effective marketing -
that determine how the DTC identifies its clients and supplies rough diamonds to
them. The DTC has introduced an extensive package of value added support
services to assist its clients to create further distribution efficiencies and
to work with downstream partners to grow consumer demand for diamond jewellery.
The DTC has established a code, the Diamond Trading Company Diamond Best
Practice Principles, to underpin Supplier of Choice. The principles are
designed to maintain and enhance consumer confidence in natural diamonds by
ensuring that the DTC and its clients adopt, and encourage their trade partners
in turn to adopt, the highest professional and ethical standards. Over the next
few months, the DTC will put in place the necessary preparatory process, and
will work closely with its stakeholders, to allow Supplier of Choice to become
operational by mid-2003.
In response to the European Commission's favourable position on Supplier of
Choice, chairman of the De Beers Group of companies, Nicky Oppenheimer said: "We
are obviously very pleased with the Commission's positive pronouncement which
means that we can now bring into effect the new arrangements under Supplier of
Choice. We remain absolutely committed to working in partnership with our
clients in building a dynamic, competitive and consumer-focused industry."
Gary Ralfe, managing director, said: "Today's announcement confirms that we can
go ahead with a strategy which is truly transformational, that promotes ethical
accountability in our industry and which is based on operating principles viewed
favourably by the Commission. We have the green light to make the most of what
we view as a huge, untapped opportunity to help grow the diamond business and
match the growth rates enjoyed over the long term by leading luxury goods
companies."
In response to the Commission's announcement that it has issued a Statement of
Objections to De Beers and Alrosa relating to their notified trade agreement,
De Beers welcomes the prospect of further dialogue with the Commission. Mr
Ralfe comments: "It is helpful to have a clear articulation of issues that the
Commission would like us to address and we look forward, with Alrosa, to
continuing our discussions in a constructive way with the Commission."
Contacts: DTC London
Lynette Hori Tel: +44 (0) 20 7430 3509
Mobile: +44 (0) 7740 393260
Mark Irvine Tel: +44 (0) 20 7430 3724
De Beers Group Johannesburg
Tracey Peterson Tel: +27 11 374 7388
Cell: +27 (0) 83 408 7173
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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