Tag Archives: Conflict Minerals

European Parliament Votes Mandatory Conflict Minerals Regulation – May 2015

The European Parliament vote on May 20, 2015 to push back on the European Commission’s proposed voluntary self-certification scheme for a mandatory system of

  • certification for importers of minerals to produce tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold (3TG),
  • third-party audits for refiners and smelters to their check due diligence practices and
  • information on due diligence measures by downstream companies.

The European Parliament press release states:

In addition, “downstream” companies, that is, the 880 000 potentially affected EU firms that use tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold in manufacturing consumer products, will be obliged to provide information on the steps they take to identify and address risks in their supply chains for the minerals and metals concerned.

The EU proposal potentially covers sourcing from any conflict area, not limiting the scope of the due diligence measures to only the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) region.

The press release is available from European Parliament press release.

ECD Compliance clients will be receiving additional analysis and potential impacts of the Parliament’s approved changes in the upcoming Environmental Report.

 

 

 

Conflict Minerals Reports due June 1, 2015 – Apple First to File

For those companies that are required to disclose their conflict minerals status under U.S. SEC rules, the 2014 Conflict Minerals disclosure (SEC Form SD) and conflict minerals report are due on Monday June 1, 2015.

Apple was the first company to file their 2014 conflict minerals report, several months ahead of the deadline. In being first, the Apple sets the bar before some other U.S. electronics manufacturers have even started writing their report. To no one’s surprise, Apple declared that the use of conflict minerals within their supply chain to be conflict indeterminate – this is the last of two years when they may claim this status.

In the conflict minerals report, Apple explains the steps that they have taken and the progress that they have made towards eliminating conflict minerals that directly or indirectly fund armed groups in the DRC. Apple explains that its Conflict Minerals program is driving its supply chain to use only smelters and refiners that have been certified to the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative’s Conflict-Free Smelter Program (CFSP). The report provides statistics that 199 of 225 smelters and refiners in its supply chain have been verified as conflict free or are in the audit process for certification. This is more than double the number of smelters and refiners identified in 2013.

The main body of the Apple Conflict Minerals Report is less than 10 pages in length. An additional 10 pages is provided for a table (Annex I) listing all of the smelters and refiners that were identified in Apple’s supply chain.