Regulations related to supply chain responsibility are gaining momentum. After the Netherlands and France, Germany is the third country that has proposed a due diligence act in the supply chain on March 3^rd, 2021. At the same time, the European Union has a battery regulation that contains due diligence provisions and is preparing a bill on the subject that covers the supply chain to create a level playing field for all Member States. Laws at the country level provide a good precedent in terms of what can be expected in an EU-level regulation and where there will likely be controversial debates between different stakeholders in the development and approval process.

Considering that Germany and Europe are highly integrated into the world economy and depend on imports such as minerals and secondary mining products, these home country regulations can also have far-reaching consequences for producers and suppliers in non-community jurisdictions. The above raises the question of how these laws, combined with voluntary sustainability initiatives promoted by European consumer-facing companies, will affect mining practices in the Andean region.

To familiarize stakeholders with the supply chain laws that are being drafted and adopted in Europe and to debate what impacts these laws may have — in combination with sustainability initiatives along mineral supply chains in the mining sector of the Andean Region — the MinSus program, CESCO, the Research Network Sustainable Global Supply Chains and with the support of the German Chambers of Commerce in Chile and Peru, organized a seminar entitled “What do the supply chain laws in Europe mean for the mining sector in the Andean Region?” on the 1st of June 2021. The webinar included views from international experts, as well as from public and the private sector stakeholders in the Andean Region.

The recording is available below for those interested to learn more about this topic.