06 02 14 Reuters – European Union seeks to stem use of conflict minerals
scheme in March aimed at stemming the import of minerals from conflict zones and
prevent mining them from financing war and strife, EU officials said on
Wednesday.
Karel De Gucht's proposal to the European Commission, the EU executive, will
encompass gold, tungsten, tantalum and tin, in a bid to pressure importers to
classify them as coming from areas free of conflict.
"Work is currently underway to prepare a proposal … for a comprehensive EU
framework on responsible mineral sourcing in line with international
guidelines," said EU Trade spokesman John Clancy.
The United States defines the conflict mineral zone as the Democratic
Republic of Congo and neighboring countries including Angola and South Sudan.
They make up 17 percent of the global production of tantalum, 4 percent of the
global production of tin, 3 percent of tungsten and 2 percent of
gold.
Tantalum is used in electronics, while tungsten is used in light bulb
filaments.
Initially devised to include only the Republic Democratic of Congo, as U.S.
legislation does, the EU's proposal is now likely to be extended to a range of
conflict regions including Myanmar to Afghanistan, according to
officials.
The scheme will not cover diamonds and the proposal will still need to be
approved by EU lawmakers and governments.
The European Union is already part of the 50-member Kimberley Process, a
government, industry and civil society initiative set up in 2002 to control the
use of rough diamonds that fund rebel movements and human rights
abuses.
The European Union, which increasingly requires its trading partners to make
commitments to political and human rights reforms, wants to introduce a similar
scheme for other minerals and make its disclosure rules binding for importers,
although there is still internal debate on the issue, EU officials
said.
The latest draft of De Gucht's proposal envisages only a voluntary
participation in the conflict minerals scheme, according to officials familiar
with the document.
Under the draft plan, shipments of minerals could be accompanied by a
certificate to guarantee that they are conflict-free. Criteria to define a
conflict-free mineral will be defined in detail and will have to be respected by
the companies using the conflict-free label for their products.
The list of minerals affected by the procedure is also subject to
negotiations and may become longer, or remain open for future additions.
(Writing by Robin
Emmott, editing by William Hardy)