I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4128 

To improve transparency and reduce trade in conflict minerals, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2009 

Mr. MCDERMOTT (for himself, Mr. WOLF, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, and 

Mr. PAYNE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Ways 

and Means and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To improve transparency and reduce trade in conflict 

minerals, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Conflict Minerals 

5 Trade Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Democratic Republic of the Congo was 

2 devastated by a civil war in 1996 and 1997 and a 

3 war that began in 1998 and ended in 2003, which 

4 resulted in widespread human rights violations and 

5 the intervention of multiple armed forces and armed 

6 non-state actors from other countries in the region. 

7 (2) Despite the signing of a peace agreement 

8 and subsequent withdrawal of foreign forces in 

9 2003, the eastern region of the Democratic Republic 

10 of the Congo has continued to suffer from high lev11 els of poverty, insecurity, and a culture of impunity, 

12 in which armed groups and military forces continue 

13 to commit widespread human rights abuses. 

14 (3) According to a study by the International 

15 Rescue Committee released in January 2008, con16 flict and related humanitarian crisis in the Demo17 cratic Republic of the Congo have resulted in the 

18 deaths of an estimated 5,400,000 people since 1998 

19 and continue to cause as many as 45,000 deaths 

20 each month. 

21 (4) Sexual violence and rape remain pervasive 

22 tools of combat used by all parties in eastern region 

23 of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to terrorize 

24 and destroy communities. Sexual violence and rape 

25 affect hundreds of thousands of women and girls, 


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1 frequently resulting in traumatic fistula, other severe 

2 genital injuries, and long-term psychological trauma. 

3 (5) The use of child soldiers on the front lines, 

4 as bonded labor, and as sex slaves is a widespread 

5 phenomenon among armed groups in the region. 

6 (6) A report released by the Government Ac7 countability Office in December 2007 describes how 

8 the mismanagement and illicit trade of extractive re9 sources from the Democratic Republic of the Congo 

10 supports conflict between militias and armed domes11 tic factions in neighboring countries. 

12 (7) In its final report, released on December 

13 12, 2008, the United Nations Group of Experts on 

14 the Democratic Republic of the Congo found armed 

15 groups in the eastern region of the Democratic Re16 public of the Congo continue to fight over, illegally 

17 plunder, and profit greatly from the trade of colum18 bite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, wolframite, and 

19 gold in the eastern Congo. 

20 (8) United Nations Security Council Resolution 

21 1857, unanimously adopted on December 22, 

22 2008— 

23 (A) broadens existing sanctions relating to 

24 the Democratic Republic of the Congo to in25 clude ‘‘individuals or entities supporting the 


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1 armed groups . . . through illicit trade of nat2 ural resources,’’; and 

3 (B) encourages member countries to en4 sure that companies handling minerals from the 

5 Democratic Republic of the Congo exercise due 

6 diligence on their suppliers, including— 

7 (i) determining the precise identity of 

8 the deposits from which the minerals they 

9 intend to purchase have been mined; 

10 (ii) establishing whether or not these 

11 deposits are controlled or taxed by armed 

12 groups; and 

13 (iii) refusing to buy minerals known 

14 to originate, or suspected to originate, 

15 from deposits controlled or taxed by armed 

16 groups. 

17 (9) The illicit trade by armed groups and mili18 tias in eastern Congo in columbite-tantalite (coltan), 

19 cassiterite, wolframite, and gold continues to flour20 ish, fuels war, robs the people of Congo of a valuable 

21 and legitimate resource, and undermines the peace22 ful evolution of the Government of the Democratic 

23 Republic of the Congo. 

24 (10) Mineral derivatives from the Democratic 

25 Republic of the Congo are used in industrial and 


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1 technology products worldwide, including mobile tele2 phones, laptop computers, and digital video record3 ers. 

4 (11) In February 2009, the Electronic Industry 

5 Citizenship Coalition and the Global e-Sustainability 

6 Initiative released a statement asserting that— 

7 (A) use by the information communications 

8 technology industry of mined commodities that 

9 support conflict in such countries as the Demo10 cratic Republic of the Congo is unacceptable; 

11 and 

12 (B) consumer electronics companies can 

13 and should uphold responsible practices in their 

14 operations and work with suppliers to meet so15 cial and environmental standards with respect 

16 to the raw materials used in the manufacture of 

17 their products. 

18 (12) Companies that create and sell products 

19 that include columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, 

20 wolframite, and their derivatives, and gold have the 

21 ability to influence the situation in the Democratic 

22 Republic of the Congo by— 

23 (A) exercising due diligence over their 

24 manufacturing processes, ensuring they and 


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1 their suppliers use raw materials in a manner 

2 that does not— 

3 (i) directly finance armed conflict; 

4 (ii) result in labor or human rights 

5 violations; or 

6 (iii) damage the environment; 

7 (B) verifying the country and mine from 

8 which the minerals used to build their products 

9 originate; and 

10 (C) committing to support mineral export11 ers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo 

12 that certify that their minerals do not— 

13 (i) directly finance armed conflict; 

14 (ii) result in labor or human rights 

15 violations; or 

16 (iii) damage the environment. 

17 (13) There are ample sources of columbite-tan18 talite (coltan), cassiterite, and wolframite in non19 conflict areas of the Congo and worldwide; proc20 essing columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, and wolf21 ramite for commercial use requires sophisticated 

22 technology; there are a limited number of processing 

23 facilities worldwide for columbite-tantalite, cas24 siterite, wolframite, and their derivatives; and deter25 mining the sources of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, 


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1 wolframite, and their derivatives used by processing 

2 facilities has already been successfully done at low 

3 cost. 

4 (14) Article XX of the General Agreement on 

5 Tariffs and Trade provides that nothing in such 

6 Agreement shall be construed to prevent the adop7 tion or enforcement by any contracting party of 

8 measures necessary to protect public morals. As 

9 such, the United States has the right to restrict the 

10 importation of goods that are harmful to the life and 

11 health of miners and others in the Democratic Re12 public of the Congo, including the importation of co13 lumbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, wolframite, or 

14 their derivatives. 

15 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

16 It is the policy of the United States, as affirmed by 

17 the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, 

18 and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006 (Public Law 109– 

19 456; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note) and consistent with United Na20 tions Security Council Resolution 1857 (2008), to promote 

21 peace and security in the eastern Democratic Republic of 

22 the Congo by supporting efforts of the Government of the 

23 Democratic Republic of the Congo, other governments in 

24 the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and the international 

25 community to— 


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1 (1) monitor and stop commercial activities in2 volving the natural resources of the Democratic Re3 public of the Congo that contribute to the activities 

4 of armed groups and human rights violations in the 

5 Democratic Republic of the Congo; and 

6 (2) develop stronger governance and economic 

7 institutions that can facilitate and improve trans8 parency in the cross-border trade involving the nat9 ural resources of the Democratic Republic of the 

10 Congo in order to reduce exploitation by armed 

11 groups and promote local and regional development. 

12 SEC. 4. INVESTIGATION, REPORTS, AND STRATEGY RE13 GARDING CONFLICT MINERALS AND HUMAN 

14 RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE DEMOCRATIC RE15 PUBLIC OF THE CONGO. 

16 (a) CONGO CONFLICT MINERAL-RICH ZONES MAP, 

17 AND ARMED GROUPS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec20 retary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 

21 Defense, shall, in accordance with the recommenda22 tion of the United Nations Group of Experts on the 

23 Democratic Republic of the Congo in their December 

24 2008 report, work with other member states of the 


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1 United Nations and local and international non2 governmental organizations to— 

3 (A) produce a map of mineral-rich zones 

4 and areas under the control of armed groups in 

5 the Democratic Republic of the Congo; 

6 (B) make such map available to the public; 

7 and 

8 (C) provide to the appropriate congres9 sional committees, in classified form if nec10 essary, an explanatory note describing in gen11 eral terms the sources of information from 

12 which such map is based, the definition of the 

13 term ‘‘control of armed groups’’ utilized (for ex14 ample, physical control of mines or forced labor 

15 of civilians, control of trade routes, and tax16 ation or extortion of goods in transit), and the 

17 identification, where possible, of the armed 

18 groups or other forces in control of the mines 

19 depicted. 

20 (2) DESIGNATION.—The map required under 

21 this subsection shall be known as the ‘‘Congo Con22 flict Minerals Map’’, and mines located in areas 

23 under the control of armed groups in the Democratic 

24 Republic of the Congo, as depicted on such Congo 


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1 Conflict Minerals Map, shall be known as ‘‘conflict 

2 zone mines’’. 

3 (3) UPDATES.—The Secretary of Defense, in 

4 consultation with the Secretary of State, shall up5 date the map required under paragraph (1) not less 

6 frequently than once every 180 days until the Sec7 retary of Defense certifies to Congress that no 

8 armed group that is a party to any ongoing armed 

9 conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or 

10 any other country is involved in the mining, sale, or 

11 export of conflict minerals or gold, or the control 

12 thereof, or derives any benefits from such activities. 

13 (4) PUBLICATION IN FEDERAL REGISTER.—The 

14 Secretary of State may add minerals to the list of 

15 conflict minerals. The Secretary shall publish in the 

16 Federal Register notice of intent to declare a min17 eral as a conflict mineral not later than one year be18 fore such declaration. 

19 (b) GUIDANCE FOR COMMERCIAL ENTITIES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State and 

21 the Secretary of Commerce shall work with other 

22 member states of the United Nations, local and 

23 international nongovernmental organizations, and 

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1 cluding documentation on the origin and chain of 

2 custody for their products, on their suppliers to en3 sure that conflict minerals used in their products do 

4 not— 

5 (A) directly finance armed conflict; 

6 (B) result in labor or human rights viola7 tions; or 

8 (C) damage the environment. 

9 (2) COOPERATION.—The Secretary of State and 

10 the Secretary of Commerce shall work with commer11 cial entities and other interested parties to identify 

12 best practices and opportunities to improve trans13 parency of the supply chains of such commercial en14 tities engaged in commerce or trade with products 

15 that contain one or more derivatives of conflict min16 erals. 

17 (c) STRATEGY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec20 retary of State shall, working with the Administrator 

21 of the United States Agency for International Devel22 opment, submit to the appropriate congressional 

23 committees a strategy to address the linkages that 

24 exist between human rights abuses, armed groups, 

25 and the mining of conflict minerals. 


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1 (2) CONTENTS.—The strategy required by 

2 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

3 (A) A plan to assist governments plagued 

4 by conflict establishing and effectively imple5 menting the necessary frameworks and institu6 tions to formalize and improve transparency in 

7 the trade of conflict minerals. 

8 (B) An outline of assistance currently 

9 being provided to the Democratic Republic of 

10 the Congo and an assessment of future assist11 ance that could be provided by the Government 

12 of the United States to help the Democratic Re13 public of the Congo to strengthen the manage14 ment and export of natural resources. 

15 (C) A description of punitive measures 

16 that could be taken against individuals or enti17 ties whose commercial activities are supporting 

18 armed groups and human rights violations in 

19 the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

20 (d) ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS.—In pre21 paring those portions of the annual Country Reports on 

22 Human Rights Practices under sections 116(d) and 

23 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

24 2151n(d) and 2304(b)) relating to the Democratic Repub25 lic of the Congo or countries that share a border with the 


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1 Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Secretary of State 

2 shall ensure that such reports include a description of any 

3 instances or patterns of practice that indicate that the ex4 traction and cross-border trade in conflict minerals has 

5 negatively affected human rights conditions or supported 

6 specific human rights violations, sexual or gender-based 

7 violence, or labor abuses in the eastern region of the 

8 Democratic Republic of the Congo, during the period cov9 ered by each such report. 

10 (e) ANNUAL ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OP11 ERATION AND DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT COMMITTEE

12 REPORT.—In preparing the United States’ annual report 

13 to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Devel14 opment Investment Committee, the Secretary of State 

15 shall include a description of efforts by the United States 

16 to ensure, consistent with the Organization for Economic 

17 Co-operation and Development Guidelines for Multi18 national Enterprises, that enterprises under United States 

19 jurisdiction are exercising due diligence to ensure that 

20 their purchases of minerals or metals are not originating 

21 from mines and trading routes that are used to finance 

22 or benefit armed groups in the Democratic Republic of 

23 the Congo. 

24 (f) SUPPORT OF MANDATE OF UNITED NATIONS

25 GROUP OF EXPERTS ON THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF


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1 THE CONGO.—The President, acting through the Sec2 retary of State, the United States Permanent Representa3 tive to the United Nations, and other appropriate United 

4 States Government officials, shall use the voice and vote 

5 of the United States at the United Nations Security Coun6 cil to renew the mandate and strengthen the capacity of 

7 the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic 

8 Republic of the Congo to investigate links between natural 

9 resources and the financing of armed groups, and ensure 

10 that the Group of Experts’ recommendations are given se11 rious consideration. 

12 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of State 

14 for fiscal year 2010 and each subsequent fiscal year for 

15 which the Secretary certifies to the appropriate congres16 sional committees that a state of war is expected to con17 tinue to exist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 

18 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

19 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ASSISTANCE FOR AF20 FECTED COMMUNITIES AND SUSTAINABLE 

21 LIVELIHOODS. 

22 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ASSISTANCE FOR AF23 FECTED COMMUNITIES.—It is the sense of Congress that 

24 the Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter25 national Development should expand and better coordinate 


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1 programs to assist and empower communities in the east2 ern Democratic Republic of the Congo whose livelihoods 

3 depend on the mineral trade, particularly— 

4 (1) communities affected by sexual and gender 

5 based violence; 

6 (2) communities affected by use of child sol7 diers and forced child servitude; and 

8 (3) individuals displaced and communities af9 fected by violence. 

10 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON FUTURE YEAR FUND11 ING.—It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of 

12 State and the Administrator of the United States Agency 

13 for International Development should work with the Com14 mittee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appro15 priations of the House of Representatives and the Com16 mittee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appro17 priations of the Senate to increase assistance beginning 

18 in fiscal year 2010 for communities affected by violence 

19 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, specifically to— 

20 (1) provide medical treatment, psychological 

21 support, and rehabilitation assistance for survivors 

22 of sexual and gender-based violence; 

23 (2) provide humanitarian relief and basic serv24 ices to people displaced by violence; 


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1 (3) improve living conditions and livelihood 

2 prospects for artisanal miners and mine workers; 

3 and 

4 (4) alleviate poverty by reconstructing infra5 structure and revitalizing agricultural production. 

6 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON COORDINATION OF AS7 SISTANCE.—It is the sense of Congress that the United 

8 States should work with other countries, on a bilateral and 

9 multilateral basis to— 

10 (1) increase protection and services for commu11 nities in the eastern Democratic Republic of the 

12 Congo at risk of human rights violations associated 

13 with the mineral trade, particularly women and girls; 

14 (2) strengthen the management and trade of 

15 natural resources in the Democratic Republic of the 

16 Congo; and 

17 (3) improve the conditions and livelihood pros18 pects of artisan miners and mine workers. 

19 SEC. 6. IDENTIFICATION OF COMMERCIAL GOODS CON20 TAINING CONFLICT MINERALS. 

21 (a) LIST OF GOODS CONTAINING CONFLICT MIN22 ERALS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

23 enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Sec24 retary of Commerce, in cooperation with the Secretary of 

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1 missioner responsible for U.S. Customs and Border Pro2 tection, shall determine and publish in the Federal Reg3 ister a list of those articles specified in the Harmonized 

4 Tariff Schedule of the United States that should be identi5 fied as likely containing conflict minerals. Such list shall 

6 be referred to as the ‘‘Potential Conflict Goods List’’. 

7 (b) CREATING LIST OF APPROVED AUDITORS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act and an10 nually thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce, in co11 operation with the Secretary of State, the Inter12 national Trade Commission, and in consultation with 

13 nongovernmental organizations and manufacturing 

14 industry representatives, shall determine and publish 

15 in the Federal Register a list which contains a suffi16 cient number of approved private sector auditing 

17 services qualified to audit the processing facilities 

18 worldwide of conflict minerals. 

19 (2) UPDATE.—The Secretary of Commerce 

20 shall update the list required under paragraph (1) 

21 not less than once every 12 months and publish in 

22 the Federal Register the updated list. The Secretary 

23 of State shall work with and encourage relevant for24 eign governments to issue visas for auditors who are 

25 United States citizens for purposes of travel relating 


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1 to auditing of processing facilities described in para2 graph (1). 

3 (c) REGULAR AUDITING OF FACILITIES FOR USE OF

4 CONFLICT MINERALS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce 

6 shall seek to ensure that facilities that process con7 flict minerals and whose resulting materials are used 

8 in products shipped into the United States subject 

9 themselves to random audits not less than every four 

10 months by private sector auditing services approved 

11 by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (b) to cer12 tify each such processing facility as either ‘‘conflict 

13 mineral free’’ or a ‘‘conflict mineral facility’’. A 

14 processing facility certified as a ‘‘conflict mineral fa15 cility’’ is a facility that processes one or more con16 flict minerals. A processing facility certified as ‘‘con17 flict mineral free’’ is a facility that has not processed 

18 conflict minerals in the previous 4 months or since 

19 the previous audit. 

20 (2) AUDIT REPORTS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Com22 merce shall seek to ensure that private sector 

23 auditing services approved by the Secretary 

24 pursuant to subsection (b) submit to the Sec25 retary reports on the audits conducted by such 


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1 services for those facilities that are audited pur2 suant to paragraph (1). 

3 (B) CONTENTS.—The reports referred to 

4 in subparagraph (A) shall contain the following: 

5 (i) The name and location of the proc6 essing facility audited. 

7 (ii) The relevant minerals being proc8 essed at the facility. 

9 (iii) The date of the audit and the pe10 riod covered by the audit. 

11 (iv) The date of notification of an im12 pending audit. 

13 (v) The country of origin of minerals 

14 purchased and processed, including local 

15 areas or specific mines of origin in the 

16 Democratic Republic of the Congo from 

17 which minerals were sourced. 

18 (vi) A determination as to whether 

19 there were any minerals processed for 

20 which there is not a credibly documented 

21 and verifiable chain of custody. 

22 (vii) A declaration of the facility as 

23 one that is a ‘‘Conflict Mineral Facility’’ or 

24 is ‘‘Conflict Mineral Free’’ for the period 

25 covered by each such report. 


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1 (3) PUBLICATION IN FEDERAL REGISTER.—The 

2 Secretary of Commerce shall publish in the Federal 

3 Register the reports of private sector auditing serv4 ices pursuant to paragraph (2) for those facilities 

5 that are audited pursuant to paragraph (1), includ6 ing— 

7 (A) whether any such facility has been cer8 tified as ‘‘conflict mineral free’’ or a ‘‘conflict 

9 mineral facility’’; and 

10 (B) if such service determines that the fa11 cility is a ‘‘conflict mineral facility’’, the mine 

12 or local area of origin of the conflict minerals 

13 likely to have financed conflict in the Demo14 cratic Republic of the Congo. 

15 (4) ADDITIONAL AUDITS.—Processing facilities 

16 worldwide of conflict minerals may request addi17 tional audits from private sector auditing services 

18 approved by the Secretary pursuant to subsection 

19 (b). Any such additional audits shall be non-binding 

20 and may remain private. 

21 (d) AUDITING PROTOCOL AND CONTENTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce 

23 shall seek to ensure that, in carrying out audits in 

24 accordance with subsection (c) by private sector au25 diting services approved by the Secretary pursuant 


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1 to subsection (b), such services follow an audit pro2 tocol that includes the following: 

3 (A) Determination of the mines of origin 

4 of processed materials. 

5 (B) Verification of the chain of custody of 

6 minerals obtained and processed during the pre7 ceding four months, to verify whether revenues 

8 from possession, sale, or taxation of conflict 

9 minerals are flowing to parties financing con10 flict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

11 (C) Investigation of mineral sourcing and 

12 chain of custody in the Democratic Republic of 

13 the Congo and other countries, as necessary,

14 to verify the information provided by suppliers. 

15 (2) TIMING OF AUDITS.—Audits shall be ran16 domly timed, but not without notice, in recognition 

17 of the rights of processing facilities worldwide and 

18 the sovereignty of the country in which they are lo19 cated of conflict minerals. 

20 SEC. 7. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF 

21 ARTICLES CONTAINING CONFLICT MIN22 ERALS. 

23 (a) DECLARATION OF CERTAIN ARTICLES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that 

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1 eral Register of the initial list of approved private 

2 sector auditing services under section 6(b)(1) or two 

3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

4 whichever occurs later, importers that import arti5 cles specified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 

6 the United States that are identified pursuant to 

7 section 6(a) as included on the Potential Conflict 

8 Goods List shall certify on the importer’s Customs 

9 declaration that such articles ‘‘contain conflict min10 erals’’ or are ‘‘conflict mineral free’’ in accordance 

11 with section 6(c). Articles that contain components 

12 using conflict minerals from a facility audited and 

13 certified by an auditor on the list referred to in sub14 section 6(b) as— 

15 (A) ‘‘conflict mineral free’’ shall be des16 ignated as ‘‘conflict mineral free’’; and 

17 (B) a ‘‘conflict mineral facility’’ shall be 

18 designated as ‘‘contains conflict minerals’’. 

19 (2) SPECIAL RULES.—For the purposes of this 

20 Act— 

21 (A) recycled derivatives of conflict minerals 

22 shall be considered ‘‘conflict mineral free’’; and 

23 (B) articles that contain only components 

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1 flict mineral free’’ may be labeled ‘‘conflict min2 eral free’’. 

3 (b) PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION OF CERTAIN AR4 TICLES.—Unrefined conflict minerals, not including their 

5 derivatives from a conflict zone mine that is in raw or 

6 unrefined form for any commercial purpose may not be 

7 imported into the United States. Beginning on the date 

8 that is two years after the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act, articles made wholly or in part with components con10 taining conflict minerals from facilities that have not been 

11 audited in accordance with section 6(c) may not be im12 ported into the United States. 

13 (c) EXEMPTION.—The President may exempt articles 

14 from inclusion on Potential Conflict Goods List and pub15 lish notice to this effect in the Federal Register, if the 

16 President— 

17 (1) determines that such an exemption is in the 

18 national security interest of the United States and 

19 includes the reasons therefor; and 

20 (2) establishes a date, not later than two years 

21 after the initial publication of such exemption, on 

22 which such exemption shall expire. 


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1 SEC. 8. REPORT BY UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTA2 TIVE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

4 implementation of the requirements of sections 6 and 7 

5 and every 180 days thereafter, the United States Trade 

6 Representative, in consultation with the Commissioner re7 sponsible for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, shall 

8 publish in the Federal Register a list of those importers 

9 that have imported into the United States articles that 

10 ‘‘contain conflict minerals’’ in the preceding 180-day pe11 riod. 

12 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each report re13 quired under subsection (a) shall, with respect to each im14 porter identified under subsection (a), include the fol15 lowing information irrespective of whether any party to 

16 the importation has requested confidentiality: the carrier 

17 code, vessel country code, vessel name, voyage number, 

18 district/port of unlading, estimated arrival date, bill of lad19 ing number, foreign port of lading, manifest quantity, 

20 manifest units, weight, weight unit, shipper name, shipper 

21 address, consignee name, consignee address, notify party 

22 name, notify party address, piece count, description of 

23 goods, brand, manufacturing company, container number, 

24 and seal number. 


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1 SEC. 9. PENALTIES. 

2 (a) PENALTIES RELATING TO CONFLICT MIN3 ERALS.—If any person, by fraud, gross negligence, or neg4 ligence, enters, introduces, or attempts to enter or intro5 duce any good that contains one or more conflict minerals 

6 (as such term is defined in section 11) into the territory 

7 of the United States by means of inaccurate information 

8 with respect to the imported good, such person shall be 

9 subject to penalties pursuant to section 592 of the Tariff 

10 Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1592). 

11 (b) PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER.—The 

12 Commissioner responsible for U.S. Customs and Border 

13 Protection and the Secretary of Commerce shall publish 

14 in the Federal Register in a timely manner a list of all 

15 penalties imposed under subsection (a). 

16 SEC. 10. REPORTS BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OF17 FICE. 

18 (a) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 36 months 

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually 

20 thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States 

21 shall submit to Congress a report that includes the fol22 lowing: 

23 (1) An assessment of the accuracy of the ap24 proved private sector auditing services under section 

25 6. 


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1 (2) Recommendations for such auditing services 

2 to— 

3 (A) improve the accuracy of such auditing 

4 services; and 

5 (B) establish standards of best practices. 

6 (b) FOLLOW-UP REPORTS.—Not later than 36 

7 months after the date of the enactment of this Act and 

8 annually thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United 

9 States shall submit to Congress a report that includes the 

10 following: 

11 (1) An assessment of the effectiveness of the 

12 provisions of this Act. 

13 (2) A description of the problems, if any, en14 countered by the Department of Commerce, the De15 partment of State, the Office of the United States 

16 Trade Representative, U.S. Customs and Border 

17 Protection, and the Administrator of the United 

18 States Agency for International Development in car19 rying out the provisions of this Act. 

20 (3) A description of the adverse impacts of car21 rying out the provisions of this Act, if any, on coun22 tries with columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, 

23 wolframite, or their derivatives, and in particular, 

24 communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of 

25 the Congo. 


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1 (4) Recommendations for legislative or regu2 latory actions that can be taken to— 

3 (A) improve the effectiveness of the provi4 sions of this Act to promote peace and security 

5 in accordance with section 3; 

6 (B) resolve the problems described in para7 graph (2), if any; and 

8 (C) mitigate the adverse impacts described 

9 in paragraph (3), if any. 

10 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT13 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com14 mittees’’ means— 

15 (A) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

16 Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 

17 on Ways and Means, and the Committee on Fi18 nancial Services of the House of Representa19 tives; and 

20 (B) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

21 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Com22 mittee on Finance, and the Committee on 

23 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 

24 Senate. 


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1 (2) ARMED GROUP.—The term ‘‘armed group’’ 

2 means armed groups identified as perpetrators of se3 rious human rights abuses in the annual Country 

4 Reports on Human Rights Practices under sections 

5 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act 

6 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 2304(b)) relating 

7 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo or coun8 tries that share a border with the Democratic Re9 public of the Congo. 

10 (3) CONFLICT MINERALS.—The term ‘‘conflict 

11 minerals’’ means columbite-tantalite (coltan), cas12 siterite, wolframite, or their derivatives, or any other 

13 mineral determined by the Secretary of State to be 

14 financing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the 

15 Congo. 

16 (4) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 

17 States’’ means the customs territory of the United 

18 States, as defined in general note 2 of the Har19 monized Tariff Schedule of the United States. 

20 SEC. 12. SUNSET. 

21 This Act shall expire on the date on which the Presi22 dent determines and certifies to the appropriate congres23 sional committees, but in no case earlier than the date 

24 that is one day after end of the 2-year period beginning 

25 on the date of the enactment of this Act, that— 


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1 (1) no armed group is a party to any ongoing 

2 armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the 

3 Congo and is involved in the mining, sale, or export 

4 of one or more conflict minerals; or 

5 (2) a regional framework has been established 

6 and effectively implemented to monitor and regulate 

7 trade and commerce in conflict minerals so that such 

8 activities do not benefit armed groups in the Demo9 cratic Republic of the Congo. 

Æ 


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