The European Union has been urged to clamp down on illegal imports of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after evidence

Halt illegal imports of conflict minerals from DRC, campaigners urge EU

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2025-01-15 13:30:05

The European Union has been urged to clamp down on illegal imports of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after evidence was found that current regulations had been breached.

The advocacy group Global Witness (GW) said there remained a “high risk” of the EU’s mineral imports being used to fund militias and state repression in several countries.

The European bloc has adopted legislation to prevent armed groups benefiting from the trade of tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold, which are used in electronics and to manufacture clean-energy technologies.

The EU’s Conflict Minerals Regulation came into full force in 2021, imposing due-diligence checks on companies importing the minerals from conflict-affected countries. Member states are responsible for enforcing checks and imposing sanctions if rules are violated.

But in a recent review, the EU Commission admitted that an external study had found “limited impacts among local stakeholders”. It also found “delays” and “implementation challenges”.