Recent reports in the New York Times and Christian Science Monitor (CSM) about the impact of Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sparked both controversy and debate in the media and in on-line conversations. The CSM article contains an interview with Eric Kajemba who, according to the CSM, is founder/director of Observatoire Gouvernance et Paix (OGP), an NGO based in Bukavu, and has worked in the minerals trade. Mr. Kajemba provided insight into DRC’s mining sector in the twelve months since the law’s passage. Among his more interesting quotes: … It is true that there is no official embargo on the Congo today, and that the Dodd-Frank law did not call for such an embargo. But the truth is that as soon as the Congolese export ban was lifted, the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) [an electronics industry body] in the United States imposed a de facto embargo. Traders here only had time to sell their stock and then everything stopped again! Now most of the minerals seem to leak out through smuggling. … There are a lot of initiatives that have been proposed, but this has added to the confusion. We need one approach. The centres de négoce and tagging are
Read more →The New York Time published an interesting story about Citibank’s environmental reputation. Apparently, Citibank Hong Kong ran a promotion giving a 15% discount to Citibank card holders for a shark’s fin dinner at Maxim’s Chinese Cuisine. Oops. While shark fin is considered a delicacy in the Orient – and most of the world’s commerce in shark fin takes place in or through Hong Kong, there is growing global concern about the legality and sustainability of harvesting the fins. The promotion drew swift condemnation, with a lively discussion group created on Facebook and an e-mail campaign aimed at Citibank’s marketing manager. Last week, Citibank Hong Kong withdrew the promotion, which was to have run until the end of the month, in response to feedback. ‘‘Citibank is committed to managing our business in a manner that benefits the society and the environment,’’ it said in a statement. “A few years ago, there may have been no reaction to Citibank ads promoting shark fin soup,” Michael Skoletsky, executive director at Shark Savers in New York, said in an e-mail message. “Now, Citibank’s fast response shows that companies can’t fall behind an informed public on important environmental problems like shark fin soup.’’
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