WASHINGTON – The Government Accountability Office reported conflict mineral disclosures filed with the SEC for the first time in 2014 indicated most companies were unable to determine the source of their conflict minerals.

Some 1,321 companies filed form SD in 2014, compared to the SEC’s estimate of 6,000 companies that could be affected. According to the GAO, 99% of the companies that filed disclosures reported performing country-of-origin inquiries for the conflict minerals they used. Some 96% said they conducted a survey of their suppliers, but only about 47% received responses to these surveys, and some said the information they received was incomplete.

Under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and the SEC’s implementing regulations, companies that file reports with the SEC under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 must file a disclosure report disclosing their use of tantalum, tin, gold or tungsten originating in the Democratic Republic of Congo or an adjoining country, if those minerals are necessary to a product.  

Two-thirds of the filing companies were unable to determine whether their conflict minerals came from the covered countries, and 24% concluded their conflict minerals did not originate in these countries.

Four percent of companies said their conflict minerals did come from the covered countries. All of these companies said they conducted due diligence on the source and chain of custody of the conflict minerals they used, but none were able to determine whether such minerals benefitted armed groups in the covered countries. However, they indicated they are taking or will take action to address the risks associated with the use and source of conflict minerals in their supply chains.

The first reports were due June 2, 2014, and are due May 31 of every year thereafter.

Companies will not have to obtain an independent audit of any conflict mineral disclosures in 2015 unless they claim conflict-free status, according to press sources.

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