27.04.11 EURAC and Fatal Transactions call for the EU to step up engagement on conflict minerals
Various
armed groups including the national army (FARDC) continue to control the
exploitation and trade of minerals – namely cassiterite, wolframite, coltan and
gold – in parts of the Kivus, Maniema, Katanga and Province Orientale with
the complicity of the neighboring countries and many economic actors around the
world. This dynamic, which extends beyond the DRC’s borders, complicates efforts
towards peace-building and security sector reform in the east of the country.
The EU
response must be both strong and carefully developed. European companies cannot
continue to indiscriminately import minerals whose extraction and trade
contribute to or benefit from conflict, instability and insecurity.
At the
same time however, artisanal mining currently provides a livelihood for millions
of Congolese and – if efforts to formalize the sector are successful – offers an
important opportunity for the economic development of the region. The goal of EU
policy must not be an embargo on Congolese minerals, but to create incentives
for trade that is legal, formalized and under the control of civilian
authorities.
EURAC
and Fatal Transactions members have been following issues relating to artisanal
mining in eastern DRC for many years, in partnership with Congolese civil
society organizations.
EURAC
and Fatal Transactions believe that the EU institutions and member states must
step up their efforts to increase transparency and good governance in the
artisanal mining sector in eastern DRC. Action is needed at numerous levels in
terms of: encouraging EU companies trading in certain minerals to undertake
adequate due diligence; support to certification and mapping efforts on the
ground in eastern DRC; the reinforcement of Congolese state capacities to
administer the mining sector; and support programs aimed at increasing
socio-economic benefits from mining at community level.
EURAC and Fatal Transactions urge the European Union and the member
states to take the following steps:
· As required by the UN
Security Council in resolution 1952, The EU should adopt legislation obliging EU
companies trading in or using cassiterite, wolframite, coltan and gold or their
derivatives to report on the due diligence measures they have undertaken to
trace the mine of origin and to ensure that the minerals do not benefit armed
groups, including the Congolese army.
Such legislation could be brought forward under the Ordinary
Legislative Procedure and should be in the vein of Section 1502 of the
Dodd/Frank Act and be consistent with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for
Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-affected and High-risk
Areas. Recent EU measures on illegal logging (regulation 995/2010) offers a useful
precedent for an EU regulation promoting due diligence by European companies.
The EU should involve key stakeholders from the DRC in the legislative process,
with the specific aim of mitigating any negative economic effects on local
communities.
· The EU should adopt the
OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from
Conflict-affected and High-risk Areas as the reporting standard under EU
legislation. The EU should continue to support the OECD in its current efforts
to disseminate the Guidance among actors in the conflict minerals supply chains
and to assist with the implementation of the Guidance at all levels.
· The EU should offer
support to certification efforts that are being developed within the DRC and the
wider region. A certification system is an important complement to legislative
initiatives, as it can facilitate companies’ due diligence efforts and create a
distinguishable legal trade circuit. However, the success of any certification
system will depend on the willingness and ability to implement it pervasively
and consistently on the ground.
Most notably the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region
(ICGLR) is developing a region-wide initiative to certify and track exports and
imports of certain minerals, which could help to reduce smuggling. The EU and
its Member
States should make a strong
political and financial commitment to ensure sufficient local capacity for
implementation of the ICGLR system. The EU and other donors must encourage
participation in and harmonization of the existing initiatives, so as to arrive
at a coherent and holistic approach. The ICGLR should be encouraged to promote
its certification scheme outside the region to ensure it is accepted as a means
to satisfy due diligence reporting requirements under non-regional
legislation.
The iTCSi scheme and the EICC/GESI conflict–free smelter program are
important industry-run initiatives, while BGR/GIZ are implementing a
certification scheme in a bilateral arrangement between Germany and the
DRC. These initiatives should be urged to adopt and implement the OECD Guidance
and harmonize under the ICGLR certification scheme. Downstream companies should
be encouraged to support the industry initiatives financially.
· The EU should urge
MONUSCO to make headway with setting up Centres de Negoces for the supervised
trading of minerals.
· European donors should
support Congolese efforts to formalise the artisanal mining sector, fully
implement its own laws on the mining sector, and to reinforce capacities to
govern the mining sector effectively on the ground. This includes training, but
also increasing the quantity of mining officials deployed and ensuring adequate
and regular salaries. The EU should push for the World Bank’s important
PROMINES programme – long delayed
due to a broader political stand-off between the Bank and the Congolese
government – to be implemented as soon as possible.
· The EU – along with other
actors – should support a third party mechanism for the regular mapping of
mining sites in eastern DRC and the assessment of due diligence efforts. The
longer term goal should be for this mechanism to be led by the Congolese
institutions, and these institutions should play an active role from the start.
· European governments need
to persuade Kinshasa to prioritize the removal of armed
elements from the mines in the east. The demilitarization of mining areas such
as Bisie and Omate would be a significant step forward.
· Increased EU engagement
on the issue of conflict minerals should not reduce the focus on other root
causes of the conflict in DRC, such as the political situation in neighboring
countries, the demobilization of combatants, dealing with refugee and land
issues, reforming the security sector and addressing impunity. The EU should
appoint a new Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region, part of whose
mandate should be to co-ordinate the European response to the conflict minerals
issue.
For further details:
Kris
Berwouts
Director
EURAC
Rue
des Tanneurs, 165 B – 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel:
+32 (0)2 213 04 000
Mobile: +32 485 070852
@:
kris.berwouts@eurac-network.org
Marie Müller
International Coordinator
Fatal Transactions
Tel.: +49 (0)228 91196-64
@: ft@bicc.de
www.fataltransactions.org