Conflict Minerals: EU Reaches Final Agreement on Conflict Minerals Regulation – An Overview

Nov 29, 2016 | Michael R. Littenberg, Amanda N. Raad, Katerina Sandford, Emily Burke, and Julia Chen, Ropes & Gray LLP
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On November 22, the EU Council, Commission and Parliament reached an informal final agreement on a conflict minerals regulation. Last week's agreement builds upon the "political agreement" reached during June. The regulation generally will require EU smelters and refiners and direct importers of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (3TG) into the EU to conduct due diligence using the OECD Guidance framework if they are sourcing from conflict-affected and high-risk areas anywhere in the world. See our earlier Alert for a more extensive discussion of the key terms of the regulation and what it means for downstream companies.