GTKonnect module helps companies comply with SEC Conflict Minerals Rule filing, going into effect this May, by automating origin inquiries, risk assessment and reporting
Irvine, CA – Netwin Solutions, Inc. has announced the launch of a new software module that will help companies comply with the new SEC Conflict Minerals Rule filing going into effect for all publicly-held companies in the United States starting May 31.
GTKonnect’s new Conflict Minerals Module will help companies simplify the process for analyzing the origin of minerals – such as tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold (or “3TG”) – used in their products and report if they have originated in “conflict” countries, says the company. These countries include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where armed groups engaging in mining operations are believed to subject workers to human rights abuses and to be financing regional conflicts.
The goal of the SEC Conflict Minerals Rule Filing (Dodd–Frank Section 1502) is to provide transparency into corporate practices and reduce funding to groups involved in these violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining countries. U.S. companies must show reasonable care in sourcing these minerals for products from groups that are not funding these violations or source them from other non-conflict regions.
However, reporting on this information offers a new challenge for many U.S. companies. The minerals in question are found in thousands of products, ranging from cell phones and laptop computers to watches, apparel, golf clubs and hearing aids. Roughly 275,000 private companies that are part of the issuers’ supply chains are expected to be affected. Many companies will need to spend considerable time and research determining which products include these “conflict” minerals, as well as communicating with their suppliers to perform reasonable country of origin inquiry.
The new GTKonnect Conflict Mineral Compliance module – built on the foundation of GTKonnect SCPM – is designed to help companies efficiently manage the reasonable country of origin inquiry and also do additional research on the region where the materials originated to authenticate the results of the inquiry. The module enables import managers to maintain parts-suppliers data at the level required to manage conflict minerals compliance, which may be different from a company’s standard Bills of Material. Additional features include:
- Ability to create and maintain different ‘product-chains’ to link suppliers to end products and include analysis reports on conflict minerals.
- Automate the request for information from vendors, follow-up action items and plans
- User defined questionnaires.
- Ability to perform region based origin assessment.
- Automatic alerts and reminders for overdue testing, inquiry and verification results.
- Risk Assessment, including the ability to assess partner vulnerability risk and take necessary action to comply with conflict minerals regulations.
- Create and manage certificate templates that can be received, stored and used for audit purposes.
- Complete reporting and history tracking.
“Conflict minerals reporting is coming up right around the corner and will be a huge undertaking for many U.S. companies,” said Anand Raghavendran, president and CEO of Netwin. “Gaining this insight into the source of goods is essential for businesses. Companies that do not comply can be audited by the government or suffer negative consumer sentiment, which could be very costly and damaging to their reputation. By automating this process through technology, companies can more easily gain, track and report on the insight they need, as well as save a lot of time and money.”
