Finland: Act on conflict minerals to promote transparency of supply chains and responsible procurement

NordenBladet — The Act on the placing on the market of conflict minerals and their ores will improve the transparency of supply chains. The Act will bring Finland’s conflict minerals regime into line with EU regulations.

The Government submitted the Act for approval by the President of the Republic on 30 December 2020. The Act will enter into force at the beginning of 2020.Conflict minerals originate in conflict and high-risk areas and include tin, tantalum, tungsten and their ores as well as gold. These minerals are widely used in phones, computers, cameras, airplanes, medical devices and jewellery, for example.Conflict minerals and their production offers a great deal of development potential, but they also involve problems. In some areas, the proceeds from the sale of the minerals are used to finance violent conflicts or human rights violations, for example.

In order to reduce these problems, the European Union has established a system for supply chain due diligence that imposes new obligations on importers of conflict minerals. The system will impose new obligations on companies importing minerals. With the help of responsible business activities, natural resources can be used to support the development of these areas.

The Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes) is the competent authority in Finland. In addition, Customs will be given tasks related to the implementation of the Act. Tukes should also, within the limits of the provisions on public access to information, ensure the widest possible public access and examine the possibility of publishing the information in register format on its website.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi