Air Products takes very seriously concerns that profits from metals mining (“conflict materials”) may be fueling human rights atrocities in the Eastern Region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
In July 2010 in the United States, President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Wall Street Reform Act) containing a section that regulates “conflict minerals” for the first time. The legislation requires companies like Air Products to disclose annually to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whether products were produced with conflict minerals sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or adjoining countries. This legislation is new and implementing regulations have not yet been issued by the SEC, but it will initially apply to tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold. These regulations become effective April 17, 2011, and the reporting requirement starts in the first full fiscal year after the regulations are issued. The yet-to-be issued regulations may alter the reporting requirements.
Air Products will be compliant with this act and other regulations concerning the sourcing of our raw materials from conflict areas. We expect our suppliers to comply with our Code of Conduct and have obtained statements from them that there are no conflict minerals sourced from the DRC or adjoining countries in our supply chain.
We also understand this is an important concern worldwide, although formal guidelines may vary between countries. The Electronics industry has been proactive via the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), and we will continue to follow EICC’s actions and recommendations as they apply to this issue. We also will continue to work with our suppliers, other industry trade groups and government regulators to verify that our suppliers and sub-suppliers use DRC conflict free minerals.