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Due Diligence
The term ‘due diligence’ identifies an ongoing, proactive and reactive process through which companies put in place systems and processes to identify, responsibly manage and report risks, actual and potential, associated with their supply chain in order to avoid or mitigate the adverse effects associated with such activities.
With regard to minerals covered by Regulation (EU) 2017/821, companies must verify that what they purchase comes from responsible sources and does not contribute to supporting conflict, illegal activities, forced labour or other risks set out in the same regulation, while contributing to the promotion of development in countries experiencing complex situations by safeguarding populations, local economies and business interests from criminal infiltration.
There are several points in the supply chain of 3TGs minerals and metals that can be correlated with earnings that could finance armed or criminal groups: such earnings can contribute to perpetuating conflict, violence and human rights violations.
For compliance with the ‘due diligence in the supply chain’, the regulation requires importers to use a five-step framework, which OECD has defined and described in a guide ‘OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas’ Third Edition https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264252479-en
The five steps require an importer to:
- establish strong management systems;
- Identify and assess risks in the supply chain;
- develop and implement a strategy to respond to the identified risks;
- conduct an independent third-party audit of due diligence in the supply chain;
- communicate annually on due diligence in the supply chain.