Participation in iTSCi reaches 130 companies worldwide

The iTSCi Programme today released information on the extent of the success of this unique conflict mineral supply chain membership programme which now has more than 130 participating companies from the mineral production and trade sector, stretching across 23 different countries. The Programme helps and enables these companies to manage conflict related concerns in the upstream supply chain, from the mine to smelter, and has successfully attracted membership from every step in the supply chain. These ‘Full Member’ companies range from African co-operatives of artisanal miners to large mineral traders and mineral smelters. All have shown a commitment to progressively improving their own due diligence practices and passing that knowledge down to their suppliers via conflict minerals policies and due diligence management plans. Furthermore, the iTSCi Programme also brings together companies from across the entire supply chain by providing downstream metal buyers (as ‘Associate Members’) with an opportunity to contribute and work constructively on the sometimes complex requirements of the due diligence with their suppliers. The iTSCi Programme is proud to list companies amongst its Associate Membership such as: AVX Limited, Blackberry Limited, The Boeing Company, Hewlett Packard Company, KEMET, Motorola Solutions Inc., NEC TOKIN Corporation and Qualcomm Technologies Inc. According to Melinda Painter, Director Supply Chain Social Responsibility & Diversity for BlackBerry explained that “BlackBerry is dedicated to maintaining a socially and environmentally responsible supply chain. Responsible sourcing is an important part of this commitment, and we value the work that iTSCi does to promote the responsible sourcing of minerals from the DRC region as well as their efforts to help organizations like ours enhance their own due diligence activities.” Kay Nimmo, Manager of Sustainability at ITRI also remarked how “We are extremely pleased that such a wide range and large number of companies continue to choose to participate and support the much needed artisanal mining livelihood option for many thousands of Africans workers and their dependents and we would welcome and encourage more companies to join.”