Brussels, 14/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 14 April, the European Parliament's international trade (INTA) committee adopted - by 22 votes in favour, 16 against and 2 abstentions - the draft regulation (amended by MEPs) on stemming the import of minerals extracted from conflict zones.
The draft regulation proposed by the European Commission in March 2014 (see EUROPE 11032) is based on a European self-certification mechanism for importers of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold, which would enable them to prove that these minerals have not been sold to the advantage of armed groups for financing their activities. The mechanism would require these companies to exercise due diligence in monitoring and administering their purchases and sales in line with five steps set out by the OECD in its guidelines on due diligence. The objective would be to act at the most strategic level of the EU supply chain and to enable information linked to due diligence to reach as far as the end users.
The text amended by the INTA committee on the basis of the report compiled by Iuliu Winkler (EPP, Romania) strengthens the Commission-proposed mechanism and sets out the conditions for the EU's recognition of the industry's self-certification schemes, and the requirements for labelling. It still has to be approved by the Parliament's plenary session in May.
The Conservative MEPs rejected the amendments brought by the Socialists and the Greens suggesting the obligatory certification of all the downstream operators - in other words, those in the EU who buy, deal in and use these minerals for the production of mobile phones, washing machines and refrigerators.
The amended legislative draft sets out the requirements that European importers of minerals or metals containing or consisting of tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold will have to respect if they choose to declare themselves “responsible importers”. The certification systems to which many EU importers and refiners already belong would thus be introduced into the European system, without imposing additional charges on them.
The INTA committee has strengthened the Commission's proposal by suggesting that conformity be made obligatory for smelters and refiners in the EU. It also suggests creating a “European responsible importer” label for downstream operators, and proposes providing SMEs that have chosen to take part in the self-certification initiative with technical assistance. (Emmanuel Hagry)