Reuters, 22 Nov 2016

The European Union agreed a deal on Tuesday to stem the flow of gold and other metals used to fund armed conflicts or produced in conditions that breach human rights. EU importers of tin, tungsten, tantalum, gold and their ores will from 2021 have to carry out checks on their suppliers in legislation that will also apply to smelters and refiners. Human rights campaigners said the agreement was a half-hearted first step...Industrial users of the commodities said the deal...strikes the right balance. Members of the European Parliament and European Commission officials...said it would improve the lives of those living in conflict zones and break a vicious cycle between the trade in minerals and the financing of conflicts. The EU rules will cover the minerals anywhere in the world, meaning they go further in scope than U.S. Dodd-Frank legislation...would only scrutinize imports of the raw materials, while the U.S. law extends that to their use in products such as mobile phones, electrical goods and cars. All but the smallest EU firms will have to carry out due diligence checks on their suppliers.