Conflict Minerals Regulations and Round Two of Multi-Stakeholder Responses

February 28, 2011
Authors
  • Marshall Chase

    Former Associate Director, BSR

In advance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deadline for comments on proposed conflict minerals reporting rules, a multi-stakeholder group facilitated by the Responsible Sourcing Network has developed a set of comments on the SEC's draft regulations. The comments encourage greater clarity and specificity in certain parts of the regulations, and more importantly, highlight the need to support the continued sourcing of verifiably conflict-free minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and surrounding region.

The final draft of these recommendations can be reviewed here, together with instructions on how additional signatories can participate in the submission. Note that the submission deadline is Wednesday, March 2, to comply with the SEC deadline.

As with the original multi-stakeholder comments to the SEC that were developed last year with BSR's support, these comments reflect the consensus view of several leading companies, NGOs, and investor representatives—ranging from AMD, Ford, GE, HP, and to the Enough Project, As You Sow, Calvert, and Friends of the Congo—on the proposed conflict minerals reporting rules. These comments were among the most heavily-referenced in the SEC's current draft, demonstrating the impact that such a consensus can have.

For further discussion of conflict minerals and the DRC, BSR members can attend a Sustainability Matters webinar on Wednesday, March 2.

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