March 6, 2015 – March 13, 2015

Key European Parliament Committee Adopts Mandatory EU Conflict Minerals Scheme

ITRI, a non-profit organization that represents the tin industry, reported that on March 9, 2015, the European Parliament Development Committee, one of three key European Parliament committees, adopted a mandatory European Union conflict minerals scheme, as part of the Parliament’s legislative process prior to the final parliamentary vote in May.

According to ITRI, the Development Committee “stressed that the new law should apply to undertakings ‘at all points in the minerals and metals supply chain’ which may use or supply minerals or metals from problematic areas, thus extending its scope considerably from importers of mineral and metal.” The Development Committee’s adopted position is in stark contrast to the voluntary scheme outlined in the March 2014 proposed regulation.

ITRI then noted that the opinions of the Foreign Affairs and Trade Committees are not yet available and that a final vote of the European Parliament as a whole is scheduled for May.

On the same topic, Chemical Watch, in a separate article stated that “…as the lead committee in charge of the dossier, the International Trade Committee will have the last word on the legislative file [despite the Development Committee’s position], before it goes for a vote in the Parliament’s plenary in May.”