Before Wa State’s tin runs out, as highlighted in the video above, some major companies may have some explaining to do.
More than 500 publicly traded US companies may be violating American sanctions against the United Wa State Army by using tin from the Man Maw mine near Myanmar’s border with China, a new report from Reuters has revealed.
The mine is owned by the Treasury Department of the Wa State government, and it is operated by seven companies owned or controlled by leaders of the UWSA or the United Wa State Party, which were placed under US sanctions in 2003 for alleged narcotics trafficking.
Wa State government leaders dismiss these claims as political slander.
The seven companies deal tin ore to Yunnan Cultural Industry International (YCII), based in southwestern China, whose website says it enjoys a “a long-term, stable strategic partnership” with the Wa territory.
YCII, in turn, is a major supplier to Yunnan Tin – the world’s top producer. Yunnan Tin sells tin products to major manufacturers such as Foxconn Technology Co and solder maker Shenmao Technology. Shenmao is a supplier to Pegatron Corp, whose clients include Apple.
The Man Maw tin is mixed with other tin at certain points before it reaches the US, so it is at the moment impossible to determine how much tin in Apple and other American products comes from the Wa State mine.
Reuters has published a graphic explaining the supply chain here.
The Man Maw mine opened in 2013 and has been the source of more than a 10th of the global tin output. The revenue from UWSA-controlled tin mines has allowed the self-proclaimed state to opt out of Myanmar’s peace process and continue to build up its military arsenal – the largest among Myanmar’s non-state militia groups.
“Tin mining is the pillar of our economy. It’s the biggest source of income,” Wa foreign affairs chief Zhao Guo An told Reuters.
Though the multinational companies buying sanctioned tin have spent billions of dollars to avoid minerals from conflict zones, US regulations from 2012 only require them to avoid minerals from mines controlled by armed groups in the Central African Republic.
The audit program designed by the Conflict Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI) is effective at avoiding Central African Republic conflict minerals, but it does not assess the origins of minerals from other conflict zones. Apple, Tiffany and GE use only this program to fulfill their responsibility to avoid conflict minerals.
Sophia Pickles, a supply chain expert for Global Witness, told Reuters: “Companies, not schemes, bear the primary responsibility for ensuring that supply chains are responsible.”
Representatives from Apple, GE, Starbucks, Target, Tiffany and Pegatron told Reuters they would address these allegations.
Erich Ferrari, a DC-based sanctions attorney, told Reuters the US Treasury Department is unlikely to initiate enforcement action against the companies for an issue so deep in the supply chain.
However, he said penalties could be imposed if the companies do not replace these suppliers.
