Cover: Provision of an indicative, non-exhaustive list of conflict-affected and high-risk areas under Regulation 2017/821
Read Online

Provision of an indicative, non-exhaustive list of conflict-affected and high-risk areas under Regulation 2017/821

Task A – Methodology development

by Jacopo Bellasio, Anna Knack, Victoria Jordan, Ruth Harris

Download eBook for Free

FormatFile SizeNotes
PDF file 1 MB

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

The European Union (EU) is committed to ensuring that minerals and metals that are used for European products are sourced responsibly and align with European policies on conflict prevention and the development of local communities. In 2017, Regulation (EU) 2017/821 laying down supply chain due diligence obligations for Union importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating from conflict-affected and high-risk areas was adopted. This regulation requires EU importers to ensure that the minerals with which they work originate from responsible sources and that businesses comply with and report on supply chain due diligence obligations with special focus on so-called conflict-affected and high-risk areas (CAHRAs). Regulation 2017/821 sets out in Article 14(2) that the European Commission (EC) shall call upon external expertise to provide an indicative, non-exhaustive, regularly updated list of CAHRAs.

In 2019, RAND Europe was commissioned to develop and maintain a credible, indicative, non-exhaustive, regularly updated list of CAHRAs under Regulation 2017/821 to facilitate the calibration of due diligence efforts made by EU importers of relevant minerals. This document presents the methodology proposed for the development and updating of the indicative, non-exhaustive, regularly updated list of CAHRAs under Regulation 2017/821 to be produced under this project.

This report has been drafted for an audience of stakeholders with an interest in Regulation 2017/821 and methodologies for identifying CAHRAs. The period for providing feedback on the methodology of the study came to a close on 12 August 2020.

Table of Contents

  • Chapter One

    Introduction

  • Chapter Two

    Methodology requirements

  • Chapter Three

    Proposed methodology

  • Chapter Four

    Summary and next steps

Research conducted by

This research was prepared for the Europe Commission Directorate General for Trade and conducted by RAND Europe.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.