Tracing the Tantalum Trade—Part Two
Thu, Feb 25, 2010
By Melissa Pistilli—Exclusive to Tantalum Investing News
Apple recently published a report on their site addressing how the global powerhouse is taking the responsibility to pressure its suppliers to not only treat their employees fairly, but also ensure conflict minerals are not a part of their products.
The report details a “Supplier Code of Conduct” to which companies are required to adhere as a condition of their contract. The Code deals with such issues as labour, human rights and ethical standards. Compliance is managed “through a rigorous monitoring program” of “factory audits, corrective action plans, and verification measures.”
The Apple report speaks directly to the problems associated with conflict tantalum in its supply chains, saying the company requires its tantalum capacitor suppliers to certify that the materials they use “have been produced through a socially and environmentally responsible process.”
Like Hewlett Packard and many other technology-producing companies, Apple maintains that “the combination of a lengthy supply chain and a refining process makes it difficult to track and trace tantalum from the mine to finished products—a challenge that Apple and others are tackling in a variety of ways.”
However, the United Nations and NGO’s such as Global Witness and the Enough Project have proven otherwise.
Read more.
