NCAB is committed to only use conflict-free minerals. The 3TG minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold) and cobalt must not be linked to violence and human rights abuses in conflict areas. We require our factories to work exclusively with smelters that are compliant with the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) and follow the Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP). We train our factories in how to apply the RMI audit scheme to control their supply chain.
The supply chain is reviewed at least once a year, and also when NCAB check routines and documentation on site in the factory audits.
Our factories report on conflict minerals and cobalt according to the frameworks provided by the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), using the templates CMRT (Conflict Mineral Reporting Template) and EMRT (Extended Mineral Reporting Template). We review their answers including checking whether their listed smelters are on the Conformant Smelter List of RMI. If a smelter is not on the Conformant Smelter List, we act to understand if there is a plan to become a Conformant Smelter. If there is no such plan, we then proceed to exclude this smelter from our supply chain as soon as possible.