June 11th 2011
Subject: Logitech Supplier Communication on Conflict Mineral Extraction
Dear Supplier,
Logitech wishes to bring to your attention the issue of mineral extraction and its connection to areas of the globe such as the Eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This region has been termed a conflict region because illegal mining profits by local military groups in the Eastern DRC are contributing to human rights abuses.
Logitech does not source or buy metals directly, however, we are concerned by the allegations that metals illegally mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may be making their way into the electronics supply chain. The minerals of interest are: gold (Au), tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W)
and tin (Sn).
There are many challenges in tracking the origins of minerals, not least of which are the lack of a direct contractual relationship with mineral suppliers and no current infrastructure to track minerals through a multi-layered supply chain. However, Logitech is committed to source only materials from environmentally and socially responsible suppliers and in support of this, we will continue to survey our supply chain on an ongoing basis to better understand the source of minerals used in our component supply and attempt to trace the origin of the metals used.
Logitech supports the work of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) to understand how prevalent conflict minerals
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_minerals) are in the electronics supply chain and how members of EICC and GeSI can effectively influence social and environmental issues associated with the mining of metals used in electronic products and establish a certification program for minerals used in our industry.
We believe it is our responsibility to raise awareness on the issue of conflict minerals and encourage accountability in our supply chain until a recognizeed certification program is in place.
Below are links to the EICC and GeSI statement on the issue of conflict minerals:
http://www.eicc.info/PDF/EICC%20Statement%20on%20Minerals.pdf
Logitech is committed to the highest standards of integrity and responsibility and requests our supply chain to share this work ethic. In support of this, we expect your commitment to work in partnership with Logitech to ensure that our respective supply chains do not source conflict minerals.
This is an industry-wide challenge and a collaborative approach is required to yield an effective outcome. We ask that you and your extended sources of supply positively support the process of bringing greater transparency to the supply chain by cooperating with our inquiries and proactively monitoring this issue.
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact the Logitech Social and
Environmental Responsibility team on e-mail at ww_compliance@logitech.com.
___________________
Jim Van Patten
VP, Worldwide Quality
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