Upon request of the chairs of the European Parliament’s international trade and development committees, Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany) and Linda McAvan (S&D, United Kingdom), Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström briefed MEPs in Strasbourg on Thursday 15 March about preparatory action and accompaniments for implementation of the EU regulation to put an end to war minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold, the 3TG), adopted in April 2017 (see EUROPE 11760).
Under the agreement struck by the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, the regulation will force all European importers of the 3TG, apart from the smallest, to monitor their suppliers with due diligence.
We can be proud of this legislation, which is clear proof of the EU's trade agenda based on values, said Malmström, pointing out that the demands for 3TG imports into the EU will not apply until January 2021, based on the OECD guidelines on due diligence, to leave time for companies and member states to adapt.
Malmström said a raft of implementation actions would be adopted in the first half of this year as work is progressing well, such as directives to help companies identify conflict and high-risk areas and other risks in the supply chain that they can take into account in their due diligence; - guidelines for member states on ex-post controls of importers; - a delegated regulation on methodology that the Commission will use to recognise and validate the industry’s due diligence programmes.
On this basis, the Commission will adopt and implement an act establishing a global list of responsible foundries and refineries, and in 2019 will draw up a first indicative and non-exhaustive list of conflict and high-risk areas using external expertise.
Vis-à-vis accompanying measures, Malmström said she had resolved to honour the most political promises on important points for the European Parliament.
In terms of measures to support SMEs in their due diligence, she promised to an online tool for 2019 and translation of the OECD guidelines into all official EU languages "in the spring".
On the measures to encourage adoption of responsible supply policies by companies upstream, which are not covered by the regulation, the Commission published non-binding guidelines in 2017 on how to implement the directive on non-financial information. By the end of the year, the Commission will put a platform online for online transparency where downstream companies will be able to exchange best due diligence practices.
In collaboration with civil society and the EU's external action service, the Commission will finance a series of projects to the tune of more than €23 million to promote responsible supply chains and encourage cooperation among producer and consumer countries (€5.4 billion), OECD work on responsible sourcing (€4 million), regional initiatives to tackle the illicit use of natural resources in the Great Lakes region (€6 million in two stages), and support for gold and diamond craftsmen in Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast and the Central African Republic (€4 million).
In addition, the Commission will do its utmost to promote responsible mineral supply polices that meet the OECD guidelines with producer and consumer countries via dialogue with China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates or in free trade deals, such as the EU deal with Mexico.
Work is beginning to pay off with China, which has adopted guidelines on responsible mineral supplies, and India, which has launched responsible gold supply initiatives. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)