Congo Minerals Provision Becomes Part of Financial Bill

A step in the right direction. We were excited to read this news the other day!
The article is pasted below. - Bethany 

Congo Minerals Provision Becomes Part of Financial Bill - NY Times
by: Edward Wyatt


WASHINGTON — During their long effort to pass a financial regulation bill, senators cited many causes for the housing crisis and the financial market collapse that led to the recession.

The mining of minerals in Congo was not one of them.

Nevertheless, tucked into the bill passed by the Senate on Thursday is a provision that requires any publicly traded company that uses certain minerals to file reports annually with the Securities and Exchange Commission certifying whether the minerals originated in Congo or neighboring countries.

It also requires them to report what steps the company took to ensure that the purchase of these minerals did not benefit armed groups in Africa. Minerals trading in Africa is often used to finance military activities.

These are not just any minerals, however. Columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, gold and metals derived from them are widely used in the manufacture of cellphones, laptop computers, MP3 players, digital cameras and all sorts of other consumer electronics. Thus, the regulations could affect hundreds of companies.

Wolframite, for example, is a source of tungsten, which is used in integrated circuits, light bulbs, and computer and television screens.

The measure calls for any company using the minerals as a primary ingredient in its products to file the reports and to describe the steps taken to ensure that its mineral procurements did not benefit armed groups in Africa.

Senate leaders had vowed that the financial regulation bill would not be weighed down by amendments favoring the pet projects of lawmakers. But the Congo mineral amendment has been a project of Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, for years. The amendment was approved by a voice vote.

Mr. Brownback, who argued strongly for the need to exclude auto dealers from the regulations the legislation imposes on them by a new consumer financial protection bureau, said he was “hopeful that this amendment will bring accountability and transparency to the supply chain of minerals used in the manufacturing of many electronic devices, without placing a disproportionate burden on publicly traded companies.”