The London Metal Exchange (LME), the world’s biggest market for industrial metals, said Tuesday it would only allow responsibly sourced brands to trade on the platform from 2022, as part of increasing efforts to root out ore mined using child labour.
The initiative, one of the main steps ever taken by the organization to clean up the global supply chain of all its commodities, will require all listed brands to undertake a Red Flag Assessment by the end of 2020.
LME-approved traders will also be expected to work towards meeting environmental as well as occupational health and safety standards.
The new rules seek to ensure all producers operating in high-risk areas or conflict zones, meet international guidelines on responsible sourcing. Otherwise, they will be either banned or delisted from the 142-year-old exchange.
Additionally, members will be required to publish fully all of their supply-chain information by 2024.
The decision follows several reports published between 2017 and 2018 warning about minors were being exploited to extract some metals, particularly cobalt, which is used in the making of batteries that power electric vehicles (EV) and high tech devices.
It also comes after members of the century-old trading platform have raised concerns about questionable companies joining the exchange.
“Global consumers rightly demand action on responsible sourcing – and our industry must listen,” LME chief executive Matt Chamberlain said in a statement.
LME-approved traders will also be expected to work towards meeting environmental as well as occupational health and safety standards.
The exchange, the world’s most influential non-ferrous metal trading market, is the first to formulate and publish a responsible sourcing policy on copper, cobalt, aluminum, lead, zinc, nickel and tin.
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