Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that companies based in the UK do not purchase minerals from conflict regions for the manufacture of consumer goods.

The Government is committed to encouraging wide uptake of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) due diligence guidance on responsible mineral supply chains. This is in line with our G8 commitments. We have regular meetings with UK industry and representative bodies to discuss and encourage the uptake of this guidance. The UK is playing an active role in discussions on the EU Regulation concerning the responsible sourcing of minerals. This aims to give political support to the guidance. It is important that responsible trade continues with conflict-affected and high-risk areas in order to support economic development.