The Electronics Components Industry Association (ECIA), Atlanta GA, recently released a position paper on the use of a reporting template as it relates to raw materials used in the production of electronics components within the supply chain.
The enactment of US Congress HR 4173, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, specifically section 1502-Conflict Minerals, has raised awareness of a number of concerns. ECIA members, including distributors and component manufacturers, have developed standards to support the needs of the entire supply chain and will continue monitoring other industry groups such as iNEMI, IPC, and JEDEC.
The ECIA and its members worked diligently to address serious concerns within the supply chain, says Barney Martin, ECIA’s vice-president of business practices.
The only industry-wide standard reporting template available today is one available through the Electronic Industry Citizen Coalition (EICC GeSI template). ECIA suggests that component manufacturers could use this template to post conflict minerals information on their internet sites to support supply chain members and end users.
The assocation’s website serves as a resource, providing updated conflict minerals information as delivered by its members. The ECIA was formed in 2011 by uniting the National Electronic Distributors Association (NEDA) and the Electronic Components Association (ECA).
