The mining of rare metals such as tin, black tungsten, niobium-tantalum, iron ore, cobalt, and gold in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and its surrounding countries and regions has caused severe human rights and environmental issues.

Most of the mining activities in these areas are linked to armed conflict groups (funding), leading to long-term instability in the region. These metals, which are widely used in information and communication technology products, have thus been referred to as 'conflict minerals' by the media.

In July 2010, President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank Act"). Section 1502 of the Act requires companies to disclose and report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the use of tin, tantalum (niobium-tantalum ores), tungsten, cobalt, and gold in their products.

Section 1502 Provisions

The SEC rules mandate that affected companies must provide:
'An annual report... regardless of whether the minerals are conflict minerals... whether sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or its adjoining countries. If the conflict minerals do indeed come from any of the aforementioned countries, the company must submit a report to the Commission, which must include:

(ⅰ) A description of the measures implemented by the responsible party for due diligence and the tracking of mineral sources and supply chains, including an independent private sector audit report... and

(ⅱ) A description of the products manufactured or contracted to be manufactured using conflict minerals from the Congo...

Accordingly, our company has established relevant provisions in response to the regulations and hereby requests that 'conflict minerals' not be used.