Responsible trade in conflict minerals
Commissioner Malmström promotes responsible trade in conflict minerals”When people in Europe buy a smartphone or a can of tomatoes, they don’t expect it to have come from slave labour. They don’t expect the money to go to help criminals buy Kalashnikovs,” said EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström today in a speech highlighting the importance of a sustainable minerals trade. The Commissioner, speaking in Paris, highlighted recently-agreed EU legislation which would ensure EU importers of gold, tungsten, tin and tantalum have to take care that their materials do not finance conflict, or use slave labour — a move which would in particular benefit the Great Lakes mining region of Central Africa, where a decades-long conflict has cost millions of lives. “I hope EU leadership on this issue will be echoed around the world”, she told attendees at a Forum organised by the OECD, outlining the EU’s agenda to encourage global partners to follow suit and promote sustainable trade.
Read the Commissioner’s keynote speech
More details on the EU’s action on conflict minerals
More details on the OECD Global Forum