How can it be that every year Switzerland imports tonnes of gold from Togo, a non-producer country? The report “A Golden Racket”, published today by the Berne Declaration, reveals that this gold comes from artisanal mines in Burkina Faso, where it is extracted under abysmal conditions, by adults and children alike. It is then smuggled over the border to Togo, imported into Switzerland by a Geneva-based trading company and sold on to the world’s biggest refinery, Valcambi. The report underlines the political necessity to establish binding due diligence measures for Swiss commodity firms...It’s not easy for the Ammar Group or Valcambi to overlook the dubious origin of their gold. In its Code of Conduct, Valcambi even boasts about its “highest traceability standards over the entire supply chain” and its scrupulous application of sector standards, including those aimed at preventing human rights violations along the supply chain. Meanwhile, the Swiss authorities continue to turn a blind eye, relying on the industry’s voluntary initiatives to ensure that Swiss companies are not implicated in human rights violations.