The announcement of the new sightholders for the Diamond Trading Co. (DTC) has been delayed to April 29, reports add. The sightholders are those selected for the 2008-2011 contract period. The sightholder list as announced by the DTC, numbered to 75 rather than 93. With the sightholders in Namibia and Botswana, the list increases to 79.

The delay is being seen as a grace period for DTC to explore some of the third-party verifications, as auditing firm Kroll mandates for all those companies selected as sightholders to undergo a verification stating that they are compliant with the DTC's Best Practice Principles. The DTC has decided not to replace any company if deleted from the list, with a new one. It will finalise the names from the current list itself.