ST takes careful measures to avoid procuring 3TG metals that are directly or indirectly associated with human rights violations or environmental damage in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its neighboring countries. 
ST began addressing the conflict minerals issue in 2007. As Tantalum, Tin, Tungsten and Gold are essential for our manufacturing process we have a due diligence program in place to map our supply chain and trace the origin of these materials. We require smelters within our supply chain to take part in the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), formerly Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI) or equivalent smelter audit initiatives. In this way we do our best to obtain validated assurance that metals within our supply chain are conflict-free. Customers who require a copy of our conflict minerals CMRT report should contact their sales respresentative or submit a request through our online support. | End of 2017, |
Mineral Sourcing in ST's supply chain
Managing conflict minerals
ST manages conflict minerals in accordance with the following legislation and best practices:
- Section 1502 of the US Dodd-Frank Act and its application rules from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas
- Working groups within the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), formerly the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) and GeSI supporting documents and audit trails
- ITRI’s Tin Supply Chain Initiative supporting documents and audit trails
We have developed a comprehensive process to provide our customers with evidence to demonstrate that our products only contain conflict-free minerals. Further to requiring a signed commitment letter, our suppliers complete the RMI template to declare the conflict free status of all their smelters. We require this status to be third-party certified. Any new identified smelters are contacted by both ST and the supplier to invite them to join the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) program.
Conflict Minerals report is available here.
To read ST’s Policy Statement on Conflict Minerals and Responsible Minerals Sourcing, click here.
Our progress and performance are available in our latest Sustainability report.