The State Department issued July 9 a statement of concern clarifying the specific risks associated with manufacturing products using minerals extracted, transported, or exported from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo through Rwanda and Uganda. These minerals are used extensively in the downstream production of electronic products, jewelry, automotive products, and many other manufactured goods throughout the world.
According to the statement, the U.S. remains concerned about the role that the illicit trade and exploitation of certain minerals, including artisanally and semi-industrially mined gold and tantalum, from the African Great Lakes Region continues to play in financing conflict. The statement asserts that some traders are transporting and exporting significant quantities of Congolese-origin minerals out of the country and that in many cases these minerals directly or indirectly benefit armed groups and move out of the eastern DRC through Rwanda and also Uganda before moving to major refining and processing countries. The U.S. is also concerned that the extraction, transportation, and export of these minerals have involved forced labor, the worst forms of child labor, and other human and labor rights abuses.
The statement indicates that because of attention to these and similar problems over the last two decades “various supply chain actors have demonstrated the potential to ensure conflict-free sourcing of tin, tantalum, and tungsten” – and, to a lesser extent, gold – from this region by monitoring supply chains and adjusting them in response to identified risks. However, “other companies appear to have eased their focus on meaningful due diligence,” and “the flaws in traceability schemes in the region have not garnered sufficient engagement and attention to lead to necessary change.”
The statement therefore encourages “increased in-region engagement and heightened due diligence by midstream and downstream companies related to their supply chains.” It also calls for reform of industry-led traceability initiatives in the region through, among other things, greater transparency and stronger due diligence mechanisms.
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