Responsible minerals sourcing continues to be a major focus for Acer. We believe that it is our responsibility to respect the human rights of others and to address adverse human rights impacts that exist where we do business and within in our area of influence. As a program that began with a focus on tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold (3TG) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Acer’s Responsible Minerals Sourcing program has expanded to a program capable of addressing any minerals identified by Acer that involve social and environmental risks.
Acer’s responsible minerals sourcing program includes Conflict Minerals (3TG) from the DRC and its adjoining countries, and cobalt from the DRC as prioritized minerals in its responsible sourcing strategy. Acer also added mica for suppliers that apply coatings, which will be first reported in 2022. These determinations are based on the prevalence in our products and the sourcing from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (CAHRAs). Acer will continue to reassess its priority minerals as well as be involved in the refining of the procedures to identify CAHRAs. In 2021, Acer issued its fifth consolidated responsible minerals report, outlining the steps taken to conduct due diligence on all of its priority minerals.
In 2021, we completed and published our 2020 Responsible Minerals Report, including a summary of Acer’s conflict minerals supply chain due diligence, future plans, 3TG smelter or refiner (SOR) list and mineral country of origin. The report showed yet another improvement over the previous year. Acer’s goal in 2020 was that 95% of SORs shall be conformant to an OECD-aligned 3rd party mechanism and 100% shall be either conformant to or participating in an OECD-aligned 3rd party mechanism. Acer was able to achieve a 96% conformant rate, exceeding its goal of 95%, and also hit its secondary goal of a 100% conformance or participating rate. Due to Acer’s determination to improve its performance year over year, it updated its goal to 100% conformance or participating rate for 2022.
Acer also continued using the Standards Comparison and Risk Readiness Assessment (RRA) tools offered through the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA). The tool allows Acer to compare smelters’ and mines’ performance across many different standards, initiatives and certifications, improving our ability to assess and manage risk in our minerals supply chain. At the same time, it allows the smelter to connect with and have visibility of the downstream companies that use the materials that they place on the market. This helps to emphasize the value of the RMAP certification. At the time of the writing of this report, Acer has received 99 RRAs.
Acer continues to follow the OECD Due Diligence Guidance as the basis for its conflict minerals management program and seeks to implement program elements that strengthen Acer’s conformance to those guidelines. We also continue to conduct smelter outreach and communicate smelter details and the results of our efforts to the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) Smelter Engagement Team (SET), as we believe the smelter/refinery identification and disposition are critical components of our due diligence procedure and of maintaining RMAP smelter data. Acer is a member of the SET team and conducts research on global alleged smelters to help determine if they meet the definition of smelters and if they are eligible for the RMAP program.
We continue to hold meetings with suppliers to assess progress on the issue of conflict minerals, to explain Acer’s commitments and supplier requirements, and to ensure they have a thorough understanding of this issue. We will also continue to publish the results of our surveys, and to work with government, industry, and civil-sector groups to resolve supply chain challenges and to support the use of legal, conflict-free minerals.
2009-2010
Acer began communicating the issue of conflict minerals with suppliers and participating in both the EICC/GeSI Extractives working group and the Extractives Due Diligence sub-working group. Acer also contributed to the development of the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template, which facilitates disclosure and communication of information regarding smelters that provide material to a company' supply chain.
2011-2012
We and our suppliers participated in the trial of the RBA Due Diligence Tool and the EICC/GeSI Extractives Working Group, submitting a smelter list and publishing our results, in addition to taking concrete measures to support the RBA/GeSI Responsible Minerals Assurance Process, RMAP . Acer joined the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) “Implementation Programme of the Supplement on Gold to OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-affected and High-risk Areas” in November 2012, building due diligence capacity in our supply chain and in the region, and sharing our experiences in program implementation.
2013-2014
Acer joined the Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade (PPA), and began using the version 2 RBA Due Diligence tool to launch surveys of our suppliers regarding smelting plants, including the use and sources of 3TG minerals (tungsten, tin, tantalite, and gold), along with gaining feedback through surveys of smelters. Through review and analysis of non-conflict mineral surveys conducted by suppliers in 2013, we have been able to identify a list of smelters/refiners that use conflict minerals in our supply chain. For more details, please see the 2013 Conflict Mineral Report and 2014 Conflict Mineral Report.
2015-2016
We continued to publish our smelter list, not only verifying smelter names and countries but also adding disclosures of newly added smelters. This information increases the transparency of Acer' supply chain, while also providing stakeholders with information on the identification and compliance status of the company' smelters and refineries. For more details, please see the 2015 Conflict Mineral Report and 2016 Conflict Mineral Report.
2017
We renamed our Conflict Minerals Management Program to the Responsible Minerals Procurement Project. Through the identification of priority minerals and areas with a negative impact on society and the environment and through supply chain traceability and due diligence, we aim to strategically expand the scope of our minerals management to ensure that it is consistent with the OECD' “Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas.” In addition, we have adjusted our Responsible Raw Materials Procurement Policy and internal management procedures in response to this new strategy.In 2017, we continued to publish our Smelter List, list of countries of mineral origin, and Acer Supply Chain Due Diligence Guidelines, covering not only conflict minerals (tantalum, tin, tungsten, gold), but also disclosing the status of due diligence investigations into cobalt and Indonesian tin mines. We also require suppliers to stop working with high-risk smelters unless those smelters can provide evidence of progress on RMAP certification. For details, please see our 2017 Responsible Minerals Report.
2018
In order to ensure Acer' responsible minerals management aligns with the expectations of stakeholders, we adjusted the definition of “qualified smelters” to those that comport with third-party systems in compliance with the OECD' Due Diligence Guidance, including the RMI Responsible Minerals Assurance Process, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), and the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) certification.As a result of our conflict minerals due diligence measures in 2018, we were able to identify 262 unique smelters in its supply chain. The number was a decrease of 36 smelters over the previous year. Acer also saw an increase in conformant smelters from 248 to 252 in 2018. For more details, please see the 2018 Responsible Minerals Report.
2019
In 2019, Acer’s responsible minerals sourcing program continued to include Conflict Minerals (3TG) from the DRC and its adjoining countries, cobalt from the DRC and tin from Indonesia as prioritized minerals in its responsible sourcing strategy. These determinations are based on the prevalence in our products and the sourcing from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (CAHRs). Acer will continue to reassess its priority minerals as well as be involved in the refining of the procedures to identify CAHRAs. In 2019, Acer issued its second consolidated responsible minerals report, outlining the steps taken to conduct due diligence on all of its priority minerals.
