Responsible Minerals Regulation

The minerals tin (Sn), tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W) and gold (Au) are found in large volumes in the African Great Lakes Region and especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Although they hold great potential for development, natural mineral resources can, in conflict-affected or high-risk areas, be a cause of dispute where their revenues fuel the outbreak or continuation of violent conflict.

To prevent the financing of armed groups and security forces in these resource-rich areas, the European Union adopted Regulation (EU) 2017/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 17, 2017 laying down supply chain due diligence obligations for Union importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating from conflict-affected and high risk areas. The regulation is based on the second edition of OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas.

The Regulation is designed to provide transparency and certainty regarding the supply practices of Union importers, as well as smelters and refiners, sourcing from conflict-affected and high-risk areas. The Regulation therefore imposes supply chain due diligence obligations on Union importers of minerals or metals containing or consisting of tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold as set out in Annex I and on due diligence scheme holders.

The Regulation (EU) 2017/821 establishes obligations for EU importers to perform and report on due diligence in their supply chains, where their annual imports of the specified minerals exceed certain thresholds as set out in Annex 1 of Regulation (EU) 2017821.

The annual volume of imports determines whether a Union importer is obliged to comply with the Regulation. The minerals and metals that fall within the scope and the respective annual volume thresholds can be found in Annex I of the consolidated version of the Regulation.

Compliance with the Regulation applies to all imports of the mineral or metal concerned in that year. The obligations therefore also apply to all volumes imported in the same year that the respective volume threshold was reached or exceeded. Union importers should therefore take this into account in advance.

For recycled metals (including metals from scrap), the Regulation has a limited application in terms of obligations for Union importers.

Due diligence arrangements can contribute to the achievement of the Regulation's objectives. The Commission will establish and maintain a register of recognized schemes. On this basis, the Commission draws up a list of responsible smelters and refiners. Union importers who only source metals from those smelters and refiners may be exempt from certain audit obligations (see Article 6 of the Regulation).

The Regulation does not apply to stocks which the Union importer can demonstrate that they were built up in their current form on a verifiable date, before 1 February 2013.

The operational due diligence provisions of these Regulations apply to Union importers since January 1, 2021. Since that date, Regulation (EU) 2017/821 is fully applicable to Union importers of the minerals and metals from Annex I of the Regulation. This also applies to minerals and metals obtained as by-products. Union importers can be natural or legal persons.

Businesses wishing to import tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold into the EU above certain volume thresholds must comply with the due diligence obligations set out in the Regulation.

Those obligations for importers include, inter alia:

• drawing up a supply chain policy and management system (Article 4)
• risk management (Article 5)
• the audits by independent third parties (Article 6)
• the disclosure obligation (Article 7)

In addition, the Regulation states that importers

• keep the necessary documentation (Article 3)
• provide all assistance necessary to facilitate the carrying out of checks by the competent authorities and grant access to their premises (Article 11)

Each Member State of the EU must check whether importers in the EU respect the Regulation. The administrations of the Member States shall consider import volumes of Union importers and carry out appropriate ex-post checks in order to ensure compliance with the Regulation.

The Kimberley Process and Responsible Minerals Authority (KPRMA), as the Irish competent authority, is charged with monitoring compliance with the regulation in Ireland.

The first calendar year for consideration by the KPRMA will be 2021 and it is therefore the intention of the KPRMA to carry out ex-post compliance checks on Union importers in respect of 2021 import volumes in 2022.

Any queries should be directed to: KPRMA@decc.gov.ie