Conflict minerals, Europe approves a law to stop their importation

The EU has approved a law that will halt the importation of conflict minerals, including those used in cell phones. All the latest regulations on compliance and reporting.

The European Parliament has adopted a new regulation to stop the importation of conflict minerals in Europe, reaching an important milestone towards fighting child labour and worker exploitation in conflict zones. The regulation, adopted in May, will come into force in 2021 and will be applied in all EU member states, requiring their companies to ensure that they import tin, tantalum, gold and tungsten only from responsible sources. These four minerals and metals are used in everyday products such as mobile phones and cars or in jewellery. Experts consider them among the most widespread in conflict areas.

Regulations on responsible sourcing of minerals

In recent years some states have introduced specific regulations to avoid the risk of indirectly contributing to the commercialisation of conflict minerals. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, for example, obliges US companies to carry out a due diligence review of their supply chains to determine whether their mineral purchases are funding armed groups or not. A due diligence process specifically includes a series of procedures to map human rights and environmental risks in the realm of the company’s direct operations, as well as those related to subsidiaries, subcontractors and suppliers, and conduct appropriate action to mitigate risks and prevent violations. This implies a grievance, or “alert” mechanism, to be developed in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, a monitoring scheme to assess the effectiveness of the vigilance plan and a final public report summarising this plan and its effectiveness.

According to this US rule, companies must report on their due diligence publicly and this must be independently audited. Moreover, last February France adopted the so-called “devoir de vigilance“, obliging the largest French companies to conduct mandatory human rights due diligence reviews.

A few years ago, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental economic organisation with 35 member countries, also published specific guidance for companies on how to conduct a due diligence assessment of mineral supply chains from conflict zones. This is a soft law instrument, meaning that it doesn’t oblige companies to respect these procedures but helps encourage responsible business conduct.

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