Responsible mineral sourcing

Conflict minerals regulation

The regulation of Conflict Minerals through Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, enacted in 2010 by the US federal government, focuses on regulating the exploitation and trade of conflict minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries.

“Conflict Minerals” include cassiterite, columbite, tantalite, wolframite (and their derivatives Tin, Tantalum, and Tungsten), and gold. According to Section 1502, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires all publicly reporting companies for which conflict minerals are “necessary to the functionality or production” of manufactured products to examine the use of conflict minerals in their entire supply chain and to disclose the origin of the minerals.

Our commitment

u-blox is not an SEC-regulated organization; nevertheless, we are committed to the responsible sourcing of minerals and fully support Section 1502 of Dodd-Frank with the aim not to contribute to any human rights abuses around the globe or finance armed groups directly or indirectly. u-blox uses the RMI Conflict Mineral Reporting Template (CMRT), and we regularly disclose both smelters and their country of origin.

In 2020, we also started to investigate cobalt in our due diligence program for the responsible procurement of minerals on a voluntary basis related to social and environmental responsibility in the supply chain and published our first Cobalt Report using the Cobalt Reporting Template (CRT).

Learn more about the u-blox Responsible Minerals Sourcing Policy

Our suppliers

u-blox suppliers, including contractors and external manufacturers, are aware of their obligations towards responsible minerals sourcing through our Supplier Code of Conduct.

They are requested to have a policy to reasonably assure that the minerals they source are conflict-free. They are also expected to exercise due diligence on the source and chain of custody of these minerals and make their due diligence measures available to u-blox upon request.