27th May 2011

A group of NGOs including, Global Witness, Enough Project, Partnership Africa Canada, CENADEP, CCFD-Solidarity Earth, and UAID have welcomed the OECD guide on supply chains and minerals from conflict zones and are calling on companies who use, process or market the minerals from the Great Lakes region of Africa to implement the standards in the guide in the shortest time possible. The trade in “conflict minerals” is recognised as a contributor to the continuation of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

In a press release, the group have demanded that, "All manufacturers of mobile phones, cars and other products that contain minerals from conflict must apply due diligence measures advocated by the OECD. They must order independent audits and assess risks in a transparent manner. Upstream firms in the supply chain should evaluate the risks in a transparent manner on Congolese territory."

The due diligence standards of the OECD were developed last year by a working group composed of representatives of governments, industry and civil society for companies using minerals from the eastern DRC and neighboring countries. These standards are intended to break the links between trade in tin, tantalum, gold, tungsten and armed violence which is contained in eastern DRC for more than a decade. Versions of these standards have been approved by the UN Security Council and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

The coalition states that all companies that buy minerals from the Great Lakes region have the responsibility to fully implement the standards of due diligence set out by the OECD. This will enable them to ensure that their purchases are not fueling violence against the Congolese population. It will also allow the continued trade of minerals from mining areas of eastern DRC, which are not controlled by militias, rebels and elements of the national army.

They invite companies and governments to take the following steps:

• Companies buying minerals from eastern DRC should implement the OECD Guidance and continue to buy from the mining areas that are demilitarized.
• Countries, particularly those who are members of the OECD and the ICGLR must include this due diligence in their national standards and regulations. They should legislate to ensure that companies under their jurisdictions that use minerals from conflict zones implement the guide.
• The OECD member countries and ICGLR should immediately establish or support independent monitoring mechanisms (such as that provided at the ICGLR) for public accountability of the implementation of due diligence.

This follows the recent announcement by European NGO networks, EURAC and Fatal Transactions that called for the EU to bring in legislation that would address the trade in conflict minerals.