🌱 What are conflict minerals?
The trade of minerals can be used to fund armed groups in conflict areas or politically unstable regions. The import of so-called “3TG materials” (tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold) from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and neighboring countries is therefore also regulated under, for example, the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation and Section 1502 of the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act.
🌱 What steps have been taken against Apple?
The DRC is accusing Apple of using conflict minerals or “blood minerals”. According to the Financial Times, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook received a letter containing a series of questions from the DRC’s lawyers on 22 April 2024. The letter alleges that iPhones, Mac computers, and other accessories made by Apple are “tainted by the blood of the Congolese people”. The lawyers of the DRC, who sent the letter, are based in France and the U.S. (namely, Bourdon & Associés in Paris and Amsterdam & Partners LLP in Washington DC).
🌱 What are the allegations?
Concretely, the case is about tin, tantalum, and tungsten that have allegedly been illegally exported. Congolese officials say that rebel groups and Rwanda are laundering “vast quantities” of conflict minerals from the DRC. They also say that “electronic components companies that supply several technology, telecoms and defence companies knowingly purchase laundered minerals from Rwanda”. In the letter sent to Apple’s CEO and the notice sent to Apple’s French subsidiaries, the lawyers allege that Apple uses suppliers based in Rwanda.
🌱 What do Apple’s disclosures say?
According to recent disclosures by Apple, there is “no reasonable basis for concluding” that the tin, tungsten, and tantalum smelters or refiners where Apple’s materials come for have “directly or indirectly financed” armed groups in the DRC or neighboring countries. The letter from the DRC’s lawyers, however, states that “Apple’s claims that it verifies the origins of these materials “do not appear to be based on concrete, verifiable evidence””.
Read more about the case here:
- https://www.ft.com/content/9d0dea0a-d613-438c-9921-a47dedc015cf
- https://apnews.com/article/apple-iphones-congo-blood-minerals-b1f20aa7bd3a3f4f8cf7fcde19c6f053