Section 1502 of the United States (U.S.) Dodd-Frank Act requires publicly traded companies utilizing 3TG conflict minerals (tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold) as necessary components in the functionality or production of their products to report on their use and sourcing of 3TG to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This process involves gathering supplier data via Conflict Minerals Reporting Templates (CMRTs), conducting due diligence, and submitting a Form SD to the SEC.
The following conflict minerals reporting guidelines on gathering CMRTs and submitting a Form SD will help your team prepare for the upcoming conflict minerals season.
How to report on conflict minerals for Section 1502 of the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act
Meeting the conflict minerals reporting requirements mandated by Section 1502 of the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act is complex, and companies often struggle with knowing where to start. Establishing comprehensive supplier engagement processes and data verification procedures is critical to determining the source of utilized 3TG and complying with reporting requirements. To help guide companies through this process, our team of experts created a recommended timeline for collecting CMRTs and submitting a Form SD.
August 31st - Engage with suppliers and request data via CMRTs
Engaging with suppliers and requesting data as early as possible is critical to a successful conflict minerals reporting season. Since CMRTs affect the entire supply chain, which could consist of several tiers, your tier one suppliers must work upstream to trace the origin of utilized 3TG. August is an appropriate month to start this process; however, many companies have established ongoing data submission processes to allow their suppliers to update data year-round.
March 31st - Collect supplier CMRTs
Set March 31st as the deadline for your suppliers to submit their CMRTs. This deadline provides your internal team with sufficient time to analyze the data and identify the following:- Smelters that are known to source from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and surrounding countries
- Smelters that are known to source from conflict-free areas
- Smelters sourcing from unknown origins
- Smelters that process recycled or scrap materials
The Reasonable Country of Origin Inquiry (RCOI) data provided by the Responsible Minerals Initiative can be compared against the smelter data from your suppliers for data verification purposes.
April 15th - Draft a summary report
By April 15th, draft a summary report to organize the information required by the Form SD, including:
- RCOI results
- Due diligence processes (how the origin of the minerals was determined)
- Product disclosures (descriptions and clarifications on which products contain conflict minerals and which are conflict-free)
- Smelter or refiner disclosures
- Conflict minerals report, if applicable
- Independent Private Sector Audit (ISPA) results, if applicable
- Detailed plans to further mitigate risk and improve due diligence processes
May 31st - Submit a Form SD and any additional required documents
Complete a Form SD, along with any additional required documents (a conflict minerals report, audit findings, etc.), and submit it to the SEC via the organization’s EDGAR portal by May 31st.
Challenges of conflict minerals data collection
Collecting and verifying conflict minerals data beyond first-tier suppliers is challenging due to limited visibility and lack of leverage. The number of suppliers needing to be contacted can be overwhelming, and the process becomes more complex if your company is sourcing from new suppliers unfamiliar with your conflict minerals reporting processes or unwilling to share data.
Unless your company purchases metal directly from smelters or refiners, you depend on your suppliers to provide the necessary information to comply with the reporting requirements. Waiting too late in the year to engage suppliers may not give your compliance team enough time to:
- Follow up with unresponsive suppliers
- Address missing smelter information
- Resolve inaccurate data or incomplete reports
- Fix incomplete submissions
These obstacles put your business at risk of missing the SEC’s Form SD deadline.
Simplify conflict minerals reporting with software and managed services
Tracing the source of 3TG in your supply chain is a complex, resource-intensive task. As the conflict minerals landscape evolves and regulation expands to other minerals, companies with in-house minerals compliance programs struggle with a lack of internal resources to sufficiently collect data, produce compliance reports, and reduce risk.
Source Intelligence offers the industry’s most comprehensive responsible sourcing solution, covering 3TG, extended minerals, and other unregulated minerals of concern. Our conflict minerals program facilitates supplier engagement, data analysis, and document generation through powerful compliance software with fully managed service options. Regardless of the level of support needed, you can be confident that your minerals are sourced responsibly. Explore our conflict minerals program to learn more.
