Democratic Republic of Congo Sanctions Committee Recalls Resolution 1952 (2010) on Mineral Due Diligence, Highlights Recommendation of Expert Group

On 2 June 2020, the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo transmitted its final report to the President of the Security Council (document S/2020/482).

The report is available on the website of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo via the following link:  www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/1533/work-and-mandate/expert-reports.

In this connection, the Committee wishes to draw attention to paragraph 8 of resolution 1952 (2010), in which the Security Council “call[ed] upon all States to take appropriate steps to raise awareness of the due diligence guidelines referred to [in the same resolution], and to urge importers, processing industries and consumers of Congolese mineral products to exercise due diligence by applying the aforementioned guidelines, or equivalent guidelines, containing the following steps as described in the final report [of the Group of Experts] (S/2010/596): strengthening company management systems, identifying and assessing supply chain risks, designing and implementing strategies to respond to identified risks, conducting independent audits, and publicly disclosing supply chain due diligence and findings.”

In addition, the Committee wishes to draw attention to the following recommendation cited in paragraph 191 (g) of the above-mentioned report of the Group of Experts, in which the Group recommends the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to “take all necessary actions to ensure that all aircraft operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo adhere to Congolese and international aviation regulations (see paras. 180-183 [of the report]).”