US Calls for More Supply Chain Due Diligence on Minerals From Rwanda, DRC

The State Department this week urged companies to increase their due diligence efforts for supply chains that involve certain critical minerals from Rwanda and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, saying illegal trade in gold, tantalum and other minerals from the African Great Lakes Region “continues to play” a role in financing conflict in the region. In a “statement of concern,” the agency said companies trading in these critical minerals may be aiding human rights abuses, including forced labor.

The agency said some sales of those minerals are helping to finance armed groups in Africa. The minerals are often moved out of the eastern DRC through Rwanda and to Uganda before being transported to major refining and processing countries.

“Over time, some companies appear to have eased their focus on meaningful due diligence on mineral supply chains from this region,” the State Department said, adding that those supply chains “facilitate illicit exploitation and taxation of these minerals, often involving acts of corruption.” They may also involve a “wide range of human rights and labor rights abuses, such as forced labor, the worst forms of child labor, violations of the DRC’s minimum age for employment, and sexual and gender-based violence, particularly in certain artisanal mining areas.”

The agency added that the region faces “flaws in traceability schemes,” which haven’t “garnered sufficient engagement and attention to lead to necessary change.” The U.S. said more refiners, processors, smelters and other companies could improve their due diligence work and “invest in upstream efforts to ensure U.S. and other midstream and downstream companies are not sourcing minerals that finance conflict or contribute to human and labor rights abuses, whether directly from the region, including neighboring countries, or from smelters or refineries in countries that continue to accept such conflict-affected minerals.”

The statement points to guidance from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which “suggests that the private sector go beyond purely ‘desk-based’ due diligence and supply chain mapping, avoid disengaging from the region, and instead undertake heightened due diligence” through onsite investigations, continuous vetting, reviews of grievance mechanisms, remediation and reporting.