After four years of reporting annual conflict minerals information to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, there is currently a great deal of discussion and activity focused on the U.S. Conflict Minerals Law. The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives recently passed bill H.R. 10 to repeal and replace the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (aka the Dodd-Frank Act) which includes the conflict minerals reporting requirements, Section 1502. To become law, the bill is required to go through the full legislative process which includes passing through the Senate. As of today, it is more probable that H.R. 10 will be divided up into a number of smaller bills that have a better chance of achieving bipartisan support for repeal of various portions of Dodd-Frank. Until action is taken, Dodd-Frank remains in effect and no date has been set for a vote in the Senate.

Additionally on March 16, 2017, the European Parliament approved a legislative resolution, 
COM (2014)0111 – C7-0092/2014 – 2014/0059(COD), implementing a new due diligence and reporting regulation for conflict minerals. It specifies the same 3TG minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold) as the Dodd-Frank Act. The regulation is scheduled to be published in December, 2020 and will go into effect 20 days after formal approval by the Council of Ministers and publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (EU). The regulation will be applicable as of January 1, 2021. Unlike the Dodd-Frank Act, this regulation places mandatory reporting requirements on the direct importers into the EU (i.e., smelters and refiners) and not on downstream users (i.e., manufacturers of finished products). Following the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines for due diligence is expected to be the best guide for covering all the requirements in the new EU regulation, as it stands today. Download the guidance and watch for our next blog post for tips to help prepare you for the changing regulatory landscape.

For additional information, contact Tord Dennis.