For immediate release: 27 January 2012
EU takes step towards conflict-free supply chains
Global Witness and CCFD-Terre Solidaire welcomed a commitment today by EU Trade Commissioner De Gucht and Development Commissioner Piebalgs to make supply chains more transparent, a move that will help prevent natural resource-fuelled conflict. The two groups called on the Commission to swiftly roll out regulation requiring companies sourcing minerals to do checks – known as due diligence – on their supply chains.
Abusive armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have illegally used proceeds from the minerals trade to fund their fight in a brutal civil war that has lasted for over 15 years. These minerals – tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold – are used in products sold to European consumers, but few companies actually carry out checks on their supply chains to find out whether their purchases are causing harm.
The EU Trade and Development Communication follows a move by the US Congress to address the dire humanitarian situation in eastern DRC by introducing legislation on conflict minerals. The law, which forms part of the July 2010 Dodd Frank Act, requires US listed companies to carry out supply chain due diligence on minerals sourced from DRC or neighbouring countries and report to US regulators and the public on the measures they have taken.
“The Communication is an encouraging first step towards conflict-free supply chains in Europe and beyond. The EU must now follow the US example and introduce regulation obliging companies to do due diligence and make sure their business activities aren’t funding war – in DRC or elsewhere,” said Annie Dunnebacke from Global Witness. “It’s no longer acceptable for companies to be allowed to claim ignorance about where their products come from and how they’ve been produced.”
Today’s announcement states that the EU will advocate greater use of the due diligence standards published last year by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The OECD guidance applies to companies sourcing minerals from conflict zones and areas at high risk of conflict. The standards include comprehensive recommendations for users of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold supply chains, but could be applied to other supply chains also.
“The OECD guidance is essentially a blueprint telling companies how to carry out supply chain due diligence. It already commands broad support from governments, companies and civil society organisations, and should form the basis of any EU regulation,” said Dunnebacke. “European consumers and investors have a right to know if their purchases are financing conflict and human rights abuses. The reality is that if the EU doesn’t make the OECD recommendations compulsory, many companies won’t do the checks, thereby undercutting those firms that do try to do the right thing.”
Certain European firms will be obliged to comply with the requirements of the Dodd Frank Act. An EU law on supply chain due diligence would level the playing field and ensure that all companies in Europe are meeting the same requirements. Moreover, it would guard against EU businesses finding themselves at a disadvantage in a global market in which buyers are increasingly demanding conflict free materials.
Zobel Behalal from CCFD said: “Today’s statement also makes an encouraging commitment to provide support to developing country partners’ efforts to strengthen natural resource governance. The Congolese government’s recent introduction of a directive making compliance with the OECD guidance mandatory in DRC is precisely the kind of initiative the EU should encourage.”
/Ends
Contact:
Annie Dunnebacke (Global Witness): +44 7912 517 127; adunnebacke@globalwitness.org
Sophia Pickles (Global Witness): +44 7730 529 766; spickles@globalwitness.org
Véronique de La Martinière (CCFD-Terre Solidaire): + 33 1 44 82 80 64; v.delamartiniere@ccfd.asso.fr
Note to editors:
To download the EU Trade and Development Communication, published on 27 January 2012, please see: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/148992.htm.
EU takes step towards conflict-free supply chains
Global Witness and CCFD-Terre Solidaire welcomed a commitment today by EU Trade Commissioner De Gucht and Development Commissioner Piebalgs to make supply chains more transparent, a move that will help prevent natural resource-fuelled conflict. The two groups called on the Commission to swiftly roll out regulation requiring companies sourcing minerals to do checks – known as due diligence – on their supply chains.
Abusive armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have illegally used proceeds from the minerals trade to fund their fight in a brutal civil war that has lasted for over 15 years. These minerals – tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold – are used in products sold to European consumers, but few companies actually carry out checks on their supply chains to find out whether their purchases are causing harm.
The EU Trade and Development Communication follows a move by the US Congress to address the dire humanitarian situation in eastern DRC by introducing legislation on conflict minerals. The law, which forms part of the July 2010 Dodd Frank Act, requires US listed companies to carry out supply chain due diligence on minerals sourced from DRC or neighbouring countries and report to US regulators and the public on the measures they have taken.
“The Communication is an encouraging first step towards conflict-free supply chains in Europe and beyond. The EU must now follow the US example and introduce regulation obliging companies to do due diligence and make sure their business activities aren’t funding war – in DRC or elsewhere,” said Annie Dunnebacke from Global Witness. “It’s no longer acceptable for companies to be allowed to claim ignorance about where their products come from and how they’ve been produced.”
Today’s announcement states that the EU will advocate greater use of the due diligence standards published last year by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The OECD guidance applies to companies sourcing minerals from conflict zones and areas at high risk of conflict. The standards include comprehensive recommendations for users of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold supply chains, but could be applied to other supply chains also.
“The OECD guidance is essentially a blueprint telling companies how to carry out supply chain due diligence. It already commands broad support from governments, companies and civil society organisations, and should form the basis of any EU regulation,” said Dunnebacke. “European consumers and investors have a right to know if their purchases are financing conflict and human rights abuses. The reality is that if the EU doesn’t make the OECD recommendations compulsory, many companies won’t do the checks, thereby undercutting those firms that do try to do the right thing.”
Certain European firms will be obliged to comply with the requirements of the Dodd Frank Act. An EU law on supply chain due diligence would level the playing field and ensure that all companies in Europe are meeting the same requirements. Moreover, it would guard against EU businesses finding themselves at a disadvantage in a global market in which buyers are increasingly demanding conflict free materials.
Zobel Behalal from CCFD said: “Today’s statement also makes an encouraging commitment to provide support to developing country partners’ efforts to strengthen natural resource governance. The Congolese government’s recent introduction of a directive making compliance with the OECD guidance mandatory in DRC is precisely the kind of initiative the EU should encourage.”
/Ends
Contact:
Annie Dunnebacke (Global Witness): +44 7912 517 127; adunnebacke@globalwitness.org
Sophia Pickles (Global Witness): +44 7730 529 766; spickles@globalwitness.org
Véronique de La Martinière (CCFD-Terre Solidaire): + 33 1 44 82 80 64; v.delamartiniere@ccfd.asso.fr
Note to editors:
To download the EU Trade and Development Communication, published on 27 January 2012, please see: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/148992.htm.
It is an insult to the African Union and to every African that in 2012 a building as symbolic as the AU headquarters is designed, built and maintained by a foreign country - it does not matter which.
WHO: Organized by the African Union Commission (AUC). The Assembly meeting will be attended by Heads of States and Governments of the 54 African Union member states, or their designated representatives
WHY: The ordinary session of the Assembly of AU Heads of States and Government is a statutory meeting of the AU. It is a time for the African leadership to take decisions on African integration and development in order to achieve the vision of the AU i.e. a united, prosperous and peaceful continent
Ayoub mzee at the Africa union headquaters
OBJECTIVES: - The AU Heads of State and Government will discuss the theme of the summit i.e. “boosting intra African trade”. They will consider the recommendations of the Executive Council on the report of the Commission on the implementation of previous Decisions of the Executive Council and the Assembly; the report of the Peace and Security Council on its activities and the state of peace and security in Africa, including the activities of the Panel of the Wise; the report of Mr. Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Chairperson of NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC); and his report on the 17th Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 17), that took place in Durban, South Africa, 28 November – 9 December 2011
The ghana Foreign Minister and the south Africa foreign mnisterThe Presidents and heads of delegations will also exchange views on the report of Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo and Africa’s Coordinator on Africa’s preparations for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) with respect to the Common Position and Strategies vis-à-vis the challenges posed by the global economy and the international governance of the environment. They will discuss the report of Mr. Ernest Bai Koroma, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone and Chairperson of the Committee of Ten on the UN Reforms and that of Mr. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, on the 4th High Level Forum on Aid effectiveness held in Busan, South Korea, 29 November – 1st December 201.
Ayoub mzee with the daughter of kwame Nkurumah HON Samia Yaba Nkurumah MP (JOMORO CONSTITUENCY)Other issues under consideration by the Heads of State are the progress report of the Commission on the implementation of Assembly Decisions on the Hissene Habre Case and the progress report of the Commission on the transformation of the African Union Commission into the African Union Authority among others.
OUTCOME: During the Summit, the Heads of States are expected to adopt the Decisions and Recommendations of the 20th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council as well as the Declarations of the Summit. They will also agree on the date and venue of the 19th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union.
