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Form SD SMITH & NEPHEW PLC

May 4, 2021 6:09 AM EDT

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM SD

 

 

 

Specialized Disclosure Report

 

SMITH & NEPHEW PLC
(Exact name of the registrant as specified in its charter)
 
England and Wales 1-14978 N/A
(State or other jurisdiction of
Incorporation or organization)
(Commission
File Number)
(IRS Employer
Identification No.)
     
15 Adam Street, London WC2N 6LA   N/A

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

  (Zip code)
Susan Swabey   +44-01903-477317

(Name and telephone number, including area code, of the
person to contact in connection with this report.)

 

 

Check the appropriate box to indicate the rule pursuant to which this form is being filed, and provide the period to which the information in this form applies:
 
  X    Rule 13p-1 under the Securities Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13p-1) for the reporting period from January 1 to December 31, 2020.

 

 

Section 1 - Conflict Minerals Disclosure

 

Items 1.01 and 1.02 Conflict Minerals Disclosure and Report, Exhibit

 

Conflict Minerals Disclosure

 

A copy of Smith & Nephew plc’s Conflict Minerals Report for the year ended December 31, 2020 is provided as Exhibit 1.01 hereto and is publicly available at http://www.smith-nephew.com/sustainability/policies/conflict-minerals/

 

Section 2 – Exhibits

 

Item 2.01 Exhibits

 

Exhibit 1.01 – Conflict Minerals Report as required by Items 1.01 and 1.02 of this Form.

 

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the duly authorized undersigned.

 

Date: May 4, 2021 SMITH & NEPHEW PLC
   
   
  By: /s/ Susan M. Swabey
  Name: Susan M. Swabey
  Title: Company Secretary
       

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 1.01

 

 

 

Introduction

 

Smith & Nephew plc, also referred to as “Smith+Nephew”, the “company”, “we”, “our”, and “us” is a global medical technology business. We have products in the following fields: Orthopaedic Reconstruction, Advanced Wound Management, Sports Medicine and Trauma & Extremities.

 

This Conflict Minerals Report (“CMR”) for the year ended December 31, 2020 is presented to comply with Rule 13p-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Rule”) and Form SD. The Rule imposes certain reporting obligations on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issuers whose manufactured products contain certain minerals which are necessary to the functionality or production of their products. These minerals are cassiterite, columbite-tantalite (coltan), gold, wolframite, and their derivatives, which are limited to tin, tantalum and tungsten (collectively, “3TG” or “Conflict Minerals”). The Rule focuses on 3TG emanating from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”) region and nine adjoining countries (together, the “Covered Countries”). If an issuer has reason to believe that any of the Conflict Minerals in their supply chain may have originated in the Covered Countries, or if they are unable to determine the country of origin of those Conflict Minerals, then the issuer must exercise due diligence on the Conflict Minerals’ source and chain of custody and submit a CMR to the SEC that includes a description of those due diligence measures.

 

This CMR relates to the process undertaken for Smith+Nephew products that were manufactured, or contracted to be manufactured, during calendar year 2020 and that contain Conflict Minerals. Third party products that Smith+Nephew sells but does not manufacture or contract to manufacture are outside the scope of this CMR

 

Executive Summary

 

Smith+Nephew performed a Reasonable Country of Origin Inquiry (“RCOI”) on suppliers believed to provide Smith+Nephew with materials or components containing 3TGs necessary to the functionality or production of Smith+Nephew’s products. Smith+Nephew’s suppliers identified 286 valid smelters and refineries (“smelters”) in their supply chains. Of these 286 smelters, Smith+Nephew identified 32 as sourcing (or there was a reason to believe they may be sourcing) from the DRC or adjoining countries (collectively called the “Covered Countries”). Smith+Nephew’s due diligence review indicated that all 32 of these smelters have been audited and recognized as conflict free by the Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (“RMAP). This CMR was subject to an independent private sector audit (“IPSA”) conducted by Resource Consulting Services Limited (“RCS Global”) in accordance with the requirements of the Rule, the audit report for which is attached as Exhibit A to the CMR.

 

Based on these results, Smith+Nephew is DRC Conflict Free for the 2020 reporting period.

 

Company Management Systems

 

Smith+Nephew established strong management systems according to Step 1 of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance. Smith+Nephew’s systems included

 

Step 1A - Adopt, and clearly communicate to suppliers and the public, a company policy for the supply chain of minerals originating from conflict-affected and high-risk areas.

Implemented a conflict minerals policy

Policy made publicly available

 

 

 

http://www.smith-nephew.com/sustainability/policies/conflict-minerals/conflict-minerals-policy/

Policy communicated directly to suppliers as part of RCOI process

Step 1B - Structure internal management to support supply chain due diligence

Maintained an internal cross functional team to support supply chain due diligence

Appointed a member of the senior staff with the necessary competence, knowledge, and experience to oversee supply chain due diligence

Applied the resources necessary to support the operation and monitoring of these processes including internal resources and external consulting support.

Step 1C - Establish a system of transparency, information collection and control over the supply chain

Implemented a process to collect required supplier and smelter RCOI and due diligence data. Full details on the supply chain data gathering are included in the RCOI and due diligence sections of this CMR.

Step 1D - Strengthen company engagement with suppliers

Directly engaged suppliers during RCOI process.

Reviewed supplier responses as part of RCOI process.

Added conflict minerals compliance to new supplier contracts and Smith+Nephew’s supplier code of conduct.

Implemented a plan to improve the quantity and quality of supplier and smelter responses year over year.

Step 1E - Establish a company and/or mine level grievance mechanism.

Recognized the RMAP’s three audit protocols for gold, tin/tantalum, and tungsten as valid sources of smelter or mine level grievances.

Smith+Nephew’s ethics violations reporting system allows employees to voice confidentially without any fear of retribution, any concerns with the violations of the Smith+Nephew’s conflict minerals policy

 

Reasonable Country of Origin Inquiry (RCOI)

 

Smith+Nephew designed its RCOI process in accordance with Step 2A and 2B of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance. Smith+Nephew’s RCOI process involved two stages:

 

Stage 1 - Supplier RCOI (Step 2A of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance)

Stage 2 - Smelter RCOI (Step 2B of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance)

 

Supplier RCOI

 

Smith+Nephew designed its supplier RCOI process to identify, to the best of Smith+Nephew’s efforts, the smelters in Smith+Nephew’s supply chain in accordance with Step 2A of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance. Smith+Nephew’s supplier RCOI process for the 2020 reporting period included the following -

 

Developing a list of suppliers providing 3TG containing components to Smith+Nephew.

Contacting each supplier and requesting the industry standard Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (“CMRT”) including smelter information.

Reviewing supplier responses for accuracy and completeness.

 

 

 

Amalgamating supplier provided smelters into a single unique list of smelters meeting the definition of a smelter under one of three industry recognized audit protocols.

Reviewing the final smelter list (and compared it to industry peers) to determine if Smith+Nephew identified reasonably all of the smelters in their supply chain.

 

For the 2020 reporting period, Smith+Nephew’s RCOI process was executed by Claigan Environmental Inc. (“Claigan”).

 

Smith+Nephew’s suppliers identified 286 smelters in their supply chain. The specific list of smelters is included in the “Smelter and Refineries” section at the end of this CMR.

 

Smelter RCOI

 

Due to the overlap between smelter RCOI and smelter due diligence, the smelter RCOI process is summarized in the due diligence section of this CMR.

 

Due Diligence

 

Smith+Nephew’s Due Diligence Process was designed in accordance with the applicable sections of Steps 2, 3, and 4 of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance.

 

Smelter RCOI and Due Diligence

 

Smith+Nephew’s smelter RCOI and due diligence process were designed to

 

Identify the scope of the risk assessment of the mineral supply chain (OECD Step 2B).

Assess whether the smelters/refiners have carried out all elements of due diligence for responsible supply chains of minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas (OECD Step 2C).

Where necessary, carry out, including through participation in industry-driven programs, joint spot checks at the mineral smelter/refiner’s own facilities (OECD Step 2D).

 

Smith+Nephew’s smelter RCOI and Due Diligence Process included the following -

 

For each smelter identified in Smith+Nephew’s supply chain

Smith+Nephew attempted direct engagement with the smelter to determine whether or not the smelter sources from the Covered Countries.

For smelters that declared directly (e.g. email correspondence, publicly available conflict minerals policy, or information available on their website) or through their relevant industry association that they did not source from the Covered Countries, and were not recognized as conflict free by the RMAP, Smith+Nephew reviewed publicly available information to determine if there was any contrary evidence to the smelter’s declaration. The sources reviewed included

Public internet search (e.g., Google) of the facility in combination with each of the Covered Countries

Review of specific NGO publications. NGO publications reviewed included

 

 

 

Enough Project

Global Witness

Southern Africa Resource Watch

Radio Okapi

The most recent UN Group of Experts report on the DRC

For smelters that did not respond to direct engagement, Smith+Nephew reviewed publicly available sources to determine if there was any reason to believe that the smelter may have sourced from the Covered Countries during the reporting period.

Smith+Nephew reviewed the same sources as those used to compare against smelter sourcing declarations.

For high risk smelters (smelters that are sourcing from or there is reason to believe they may be sourcing from the Covered Countries), Smith+Nephew requires the smelter be audited and recognized as conflict free by the RMAP.

For high risk smelters that have not been audited and recognized as conflict free by the RMAP, Smith+Nephew communicates the risk to a designated member of senior management (OECD Step 3A) and conducts risk mitigation on the smelter according to OECD Step 3B.

 

For the 2020 reporting period, Smith+Nephew’s smelter RCOI and due diligence process was executed by Claigan.

 

Smith+Nephew’s suppliers identified 286 smelters in their supply chain. Smith+Nephew identified 32 smelters that source, or there is a reason to believe they may source, from the Covered Countries. Smith+Nephew determined that all 32 of these smelters have been audited and recognized as conflict free by the RMAP.

 

Improvement Plan

 

Smith+Nephew is taking and will continue to take the following steps to improve the due diligence conducted to further mitigate risk that the necessary conflict minerals in Smith+Nephew’s products could directly or indirectly benefit or finance armed groups in the Covered Countries:

 

a.Including a conflict minerals clause in all new and renewing supplier contracts.

b.Continuing to drive its suppliers to obtain current, accurate, and complete information about the smelters in their supply chain.

c.Engaging smelters sourcing from the Covered Countries to be audited and certified to a protocol recognized by the RMAP.

d.Follow up in 2021 on smelters requiring risk mitigation, but not removal from Smith+Nephew’s supply chain.

 

 

 

Smelters and Refineries

 

Below are the smelters reported to Smith+Nephew as likely in Smith+Nephew’s supply chain in the 2020 reporting period.

 

Metal Smelter
Gold 8853 S.p.A.
Gold Abington Reldan Metals, LLC
Gold Advanced Chemical Company
Gold Aida Chemical Industries Co., Ltd.
Gold Al Etihad Gold Refinery DMCC
Gold Allgemeine Gold-und Silberscheideanstalt A.G.
Gold Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex (AMMC)
Gold AngloGold Ashanti Córrego do Sítio Mineração
Gold Argor-Heraeus S.A.
Gold Asahi Pretec Corp.
Gold Asahi Refining Canada Ltd.
Gold Asahi Refining USA Inc.
Gold Asaka Riken Co., Ltd.
Gold Atasay Kuyumculuk Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S.
Gold AU Traders and Refiners
Gold Aurubis AG
Gold Bangalore Refinery
Gold Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines)
Gold Boliden AB
Gold C. Hafner GmbH + Co. KG
Gold Caridad
Gold CCR Refinery - Glencore Canada Corporation
Gold Cendres + Métaux S.A.
Gold Chimet S.p.A.
Gold Chugai Mining
Gold Daye Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Ltd.
Gold Degussa Sonne / Mond Goldhandel GmbH
Gold DODUCO Contacts and Refining GmbH
Gold Dowa
Gold DS PRETECH Co., Ltd.
Gold DSC (Do Sung Corporation)
Gold Eco-System Recycling Co., Ltd. East Plant
Gold Eco-System Recycling Co., Ltd. North Plant
Gold Eco-System Recycling Co., Ltd. West Plant
Gold Emirates Gold DMCC
Gold Geib Refining Corporation
Gold Gold Refinery of Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd.
Gold Great Wall Precious Metals Co., Ltd. of CBPM
Gold Guangdong Jinding Gold Limited
Gold Gujarat Gold Centre
Gold Guoda Safina High-Tech Environmental Refinery Co., Ltd.
Gold Hangzhou Fuchunjiang Smelting Co., Ltd.
Gold Heimerle + Meule GmbH
Gold Heraeus Metals Hong Kong Ltd.
Gold Heraeus Precious Metals GmbH & Co. KG
Gold Hunan Chenzhou Mining Co., Ltd.
Gold Hunan Guiyang yinxing Nonferrous Smelting Co., Ltd.
Gold HwaSeong CJ Co., Ltd.
Gold Inner Mongolia Qiankun Gold and Silver Refinery Share Co., Ltd.
Gold Ishifuku Metal Industry Co., Ltd.
Gold Istanbul Gold Refinery
Gold Italpreziosi
Gold Japan Mint
Gold Jiangxi Copper Co., Ltd.

 

 

Gold JSC Ekaterinburg Non-Ferrous Metal Processing Plant
Gold JSC Uralelectromed
Gold JX Nippon Mining & Metals Co., Ltd.
Gold Kazakhmys Smelting LLC
Gold Kazzinc
Gold Kennecott Utah Copper LLC
Gold KGHM Polska Miedź Spółka Akcyjna
Gold Kojima Chemicals Co., Ltd.
Gold Korea Zinc Co., Ltd.
Gold Kyrgyzaltyn JSC
Gold Kyshtym Copper-Electrolytic Plant ZAO
Gold L'azurde Company For Jewelry
Gold L'Orfebre S.A.
Gold Lingbao Gold Co., Ltd.
Gold Lingbao Jinyuan Tonghui Refinery Co., Ltd.
Gold LS-NIKKO Copper Inc.
Gold LT Metal Ltd.
Gold Luoyang Zijin Yinhui Gold Refinery Co., Ltd.
Gold Marsam Metals
Gold Materion
Gold Matsuda Sangyo Co., Ltd.
Gold Metalor Technologies (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Gold Metalor Technologies (Singapore) Pte., Ltd.
Gold Metalor Technologies (Suzhou) Ltd.
Gold Metalor Technologies S.A.
Gold Metalor USA Refining Corporation
Gold Metalúrgica Met-Mex Peñoles S.A. De C.V.
Gold Mitsubishi Materials Corporation
Gold Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co., Ltd.
Gold MMTC-PAMP India Pvt., Ltd.
Gold Modeltech Sdn Bhd
Gold Morris and Watson
Gold Moscow Special Alloys Processing Plant
Gold Nadir Metal Rafineri San. Ve Tic. A.Ş.
Gold Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combinat
Gold NH Recytech Company
Gold Nihon Material Co., Ltd.
Gold Ögussa Österreichische Gold- und Silber-Scheideanstalt GmbH
Gold Ohura Precious Metal Industry Co., Ltd.
Gold OJSC "The Gulidov Krasnoyarsk Non-Ferrous Metals Plant" (OJSC Krastsvetmet)
Gold OJSC Novosibirsk Refinery
Gold PAMP S.A.
Gold Pease & Curren
Gold Penglai Penggang Gold Industry Co., Ltd.
Gold Planta Recuperadora de Metales SpA
Gold Prioksky Plant of Non-Ferrous Metals
Gold PT Aneka Tambang (Persero) Tbk
Gold PX Précinox S.A.
Gold QG Refining, LLC
Gold Rand Refinery (Pty) Ltd.
Gold Refinery of Seemine Gold Co., Ltd.
Gold REMONDIS PMR B.V.
Gold Royal Canadian Mint
Gold SAAMP

 

 

Gold Sabin Metal Corp.
Gold Safimet S.p.A
Gold SAFINA A.S.
Gold Sai Refinery
Gold Samduck Precious Metals
Gold SAMWON Metals Corp.
Gold SAXONIA Edelmetalle GmbH
Gold SEMPSA Joyería Platería S.A.
Gold Shandong Humon Smelting Co., Ltd.
Gold Shandong Tiancheng Biological Gold Industrial Co., Ltd.
Gold Shandong Zhaojin Gold & Silver Refinery Co., Ltd.
Gold Sichuan Tianze Precious Metals Co., Ltd.
Gold Singway Technology Co., Ltd.
Gold SOE Shyolkovsky Factory of Secondary Precious Metals
Gold Solar Applied Materials Technology Corp.
Gold State Research Institute Center for Physical Sciences and Technology
Gold Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd.
Gold SungEel HiMetal Co., Ltd.
Gold T.C.A S.p.A
Gold Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.
Gold The Refinery of Shandong Gold Mining Co., Ltd.
Gold Tokuriki Honten Co., Ltd.
Gold Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co., Ltd.
Gold TOO Tau-Ken-Altyn
Gold Torecom
Gold Umicore Precious Metals Thailand
Gold Umicore S.A. Business Unit Precious Metals Refining
Gold United Precious Metal Refining, Inc.
Gold Valcambi S.A.
Gold Western Australian Mint (T/a The Perth Mint)
Gold WIELAND Edelmetalle GmbH
Gold Yamakin Co., Ltd.
Gold Yokohama Metal Co., Ltd.
Gold Yunnan Copper Industry Co., Ltd.
Gold Zhongyuan Gold Smelter of Zhongjin Gold Corporation
Tantalum Asaka Riken Co., Ltd.
Tantalum Changsha South Tantalum Niobium Co., Ltd.
Tantalum D Block Metals, LLC
Tantalum Exotech Inc.
Tantalum F&X Electro-Materials Ltd.
Tantalum FIR Metals & Resource Ltd.
Tantalum Global Advanced Metals Aizu
Tantalum Global Advanced Metals Boyertown
Tantalum Guangdong Zhiyuan New Material Co., Ltd.
Tantalum H.C. Starck Co., Ltd.
Tantalum H.C. Starck Hermsdorf GmbH
Tantalum H.C. Starck Inc.
Tantalum H.C. Starck Ltd.
Tantalum H.C. Starck Smelting GmbH & Co. KG
Tantalum H.C. Starck Tantalum and Niobium GmbH
Tantalum Hengyang King Xing Lifeng New Materials Co., Ltd.
Tantalum Jiangxi Dinghai Tantalum & Niobium Co., Ltd.
Tantalum Jiangxi Tuohong New Raw Material
Tantalum JiuJiang JinXin Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd.

 

 

Tantalum Jiujiang Tanbre Co., Ltd.
Tantalum Jiujiang Zhongao Tantalum & Niobium Co., Ltd.
Tantalum KEMET Blue Metals
Tantalum LSM Brasil S.A.
Tantalum Metallurgical Products India Pvt., Ltd.
Tantalum Mineração Taboca S.A.
Tantalum Mitsui Mining & Smelting
Tantalum Ningxia Orient Tantalum Industry Co., Ltd.
Tantalum NPM Silmet AS
Tantalum PRG Dooel
Tantalum QuantumClean
Tantalum Resind Indústria e Comércio Ltda.
Tantalum Solikamsk Magnesium Works OAO
Tantalum Taki Chemical Co., Ltd.
Tantalum Telex Metals
Tantalum Ulba Metallurgical Plant JSC
Tantalum XinXing HaoRong Electronic Material Co., Ltd.
Tantalum Yanling Jincheng Tantalum & Niobium Co., Ltd.
Tin Alpha
Tin An Vinh Joint Stock Mineral Processing Company
Tin Chenzhou Yunxiang Mining and Metallurgy Co., Ltd.
Tin Chifeng Dajingzi Tin Industry Co., Ltd.
Tin China Tin Group Co., Ltd.
Tin Dongguan CiEXPO Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd.
Tin Dowa
Tin Electro-Mechanical Facility of the Cao Bang Minerals & Metallurgy Joint Stock Company
Tin EM Vinto
Tin Estanho de Rondônia S.A.
Tin Fenix Metals
Tin Gejiu City Fuxiang Industry and Trade Co., Ltd.
Tin Gejiu Kai Meng Industry and Trade LLC
Tin Gejiu Non-Ferrous Metal Processing Co., Ltd.
Tin Gejiu Yunxin Nonferrous Electrolysis Co., Ltd.
Tin Gejiu Zili Mining And Metallurgy Co., Ltd.
Tin Guangdong Hanhe Non-Ferrous Metal Co., Ltd.
Tin HuiChang Hill Tin Industry Co., Ltd.
Tin Jiangxi New Nanshan Technology Ltd.
Tin Ma'anshan Weitai Tin Co., Ltd.
Tin Magnu's Minerais Metais e Ligas Ltda.
Tin Malaysia Smelting Corporation (MSC)
Tin Melt Metais e Ligas S.A.
Tin Metallic Resources, Inc.
Tin Metallo Belgium N.V.
Tin Metallo Spain S.L.U.
Tin Mineração Taboca S.A.
Tin Minsur
Tin Mitsubishi Materials Corporation
Tin Modeltech Sdn Bhd
Tin Nghe Tinh Non-Ferrous Metals Joint Stock Company
Tin O.M. Manufacturing (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
Tin O.M. Manufacturing Philippines, Inc.
Tin Operaciones Metalúrgicas S.A.
Tin Pongpipat Company Limited
Tin Precious Minerals and Smelting Limited

 

 

Tin PT Artha Cipta Langgeng
Tin PT ATD Makmur Mandiri Jaya
Tin PT Babel Surya Alam Lestari
Tin PT Bangka Serumpun
Tin PT Menara Cipta Mulia
Tin PT Mitra Stania Prima
Tin PT Prima Timah Utama
Tin PT Rajawali Rimba Perkasa
Tin PT Rajehan Ariq
Tin PT Refined Bangka Tin
Tin PT Timah Tbk Kundur
Tin PT Timah Tbk Mentok
Tin Resind Indústria e Comércio Ltda.
Tin Rui Da Hung
Tin Soft Metais Ltda.
Tin Super Ligas
Tin Thai Nguyen Mining and Metallurgy Co., Ltd.
Tin Thaisarco
Tin Tin Technology & Refining
Tin Tuyen Quang Non-Ferrous Metals Joint Stock Company
Tin White Solder Metalurgia e Mineração Ltda.
Tin Yunnan Chengfeng Non-ferrous Metals Co., Ltd.
Tin Yunnan Tin Company Limited
Tin Yunnan Yunfan Non-ferrous Metals Co., Ltd.
Tungsten A.L.M.T. Corp.
Tungsten ACL Metais Eireli
Tungsten Asia Tungsten Products Vietnam Ltd.
Tungsten Chenzhou Diamond Tungsten Products Co., Ltd.
Tungsten China Molybdenum Tungsten Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten Co., Ltd.
Tungsten CNMC (Guangxi) PGMA Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Fujian Ganmin RareMetal Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Fujian Jinxin Tungsten Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Ganzhou Haichuang Tungsten Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Ganzhou Huaxing Tungsten Products Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Ganzhou Jiangwu Ferrotungsten Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Ganzhou Seadragon W & Mo Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Global Tungsten & Powders Corp.
Tungsten Guangdong Xianglu Tungsten Co., Ltd.
Tungsten H.C. Starck Smelting GmbH & Co. KG
Tungsten H.C. Starck Tungsten GmbH
Tungsten Hunan Chenzhou Mining Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Hunan Chuangda Vanadium Tungsten Co., Ltd. Wuji
Tungsten Hunan Chunchang Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Hunan Litian Tungsten Industry Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Hydrometallurg, JSC
Tungsten Japan New Metals Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Jiangwu H.C. Starck Tungsten Products Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Jiangxi Gan Bei Tungsten Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Jiangxi Minmetals Gao'an Non-ferrous Metals Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Jiangxi Tonggu Non-ferrous Metallurgical & Chemical Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Jiangxi Xinsheng Tungsten Industry Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Jiangxi Yaosheng Tungsten Co., Ltd.
Tungsten JSC "Kirovgrad Hard Alloys Plant"

 

 

Tungsten Kennametal Fallon
Tungsten Kennametal Huntsville
Tungsten KGETS Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Lianyou Metals Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Malipo Haiyu Tungsten Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Masan Tungsten Chemical LLC (MTC)
Tungsten Moliren Ltd.
Tungsten Niagara Refining LLC
Tungsten Philippine Chuangxin Industrial Co., Inc.
Tungsten Tejing (Vietnam) Tungsten Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Unecha Refractory Metals Plant
Tungsten Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten AG
Tungsten Woltech Korea Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Xiamen Tungsten (H.C.) Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Xiamen Tungsten Co., Ltd.
Tungsten Xinfeng Huarui Tungsten & Molybdenum New Material Co., Ltd.

 

Thirty-two of the smelters above declared to be sourcing or there was reason to believe are sourcing from the Covered Countries. Under the SEC Final Rule, the requirement is to identify whether or not a smelter is sourcing from the Covered Countries; there is no requirement to identify the specific covered country by the smelter. Given the limitation on the specificity of the smelters’ disclosures, the identified Covered Countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibit A

 

INDEPENDENT PRIVATE SECTOR AUDIT REPORT

DODD FRANK WALL STREET REFORM AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, SECTION 1502

 

SMITH & NEPHEW PLC

 

To the Board of Directors

 

RCS Global Ltd (or “RCS”) conducted an Independent Private Sector Audit (IPSA) of Smith & Nephew plc (“the Company”) Conflict Minerals Report for the reporting period of January 1 to December 31, 2020. We examined evidence relating to the audit objectives set forth in 17 CFR Part 249b.400, Section 1, Item 1.01, which state that the auditor is to express an opinion or conclusion as to:

 

1) Whether the design of the Company’s due diligence framework as set forth in Sections on Company Management Systems and Due Diligence the Conflict Minerals Report for the reporting period from January 1 to December 31, 2020, is in conformity, in all material respects, with the criteria set forth in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, Third Edition 2016 (“OECD Guidance”), and

 

2) Whether the Company’s description of the due diligence measures it performed, as set forth in the Section on Due Diligence in the Conflict Minerals Report for the reporting period from January 1 to December 31, 2020, is consistent with the due diligence process that the Company undertook.

 

Management is responsible for the design of the Company’s due diligence framework and the description of the Company’s due diligence measures set forth in the Conflict Minerals Report, and performance of the due diligence measures. The opinion or conclusion in this audit report is in relation to the two audit objectives. These audit objectives are narrowly defined and do not include the auditor’s opinion on:

 

The consistency of the due diligence measures that the Company performed with either the design of the Company’s due diligence framework or the OECD Due Diligence Guidance.

 

The completeness of the Company’s description of the due diligence measures performed.

 

The suitability of the design or operating effectiveness of the Company’s due diligence process.

 

Whether a third party can determine from the Conflict Minerals Report if the due diligence measures the Company performed are consistent with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance.

 

The Company’s reasonable country of origin inquiry (RCOI), including the suitability of the design of the RCOI, its operating effectiveness, or the results thereof.

 

The Company’s conclusions about the source or chain of custody of its conflict minerals, those products subject to due diligence, or the DRC Conflict Free status of its products.

 

Consequently, we do not express an opinion or conclusion on the matters listed above or any other matters included in any section of the Conflict Minerals Report other than the design of the Company’s due diligence framework and the Company’s description of the due diligence measures it performed as set forth in the Sections mentioned in the audit objectives.

 

We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards, in particular Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 of the U.S. Government Accountability Office Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards, Revision of December 2011. Those standards

 

 
 

 

 

require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

 

For the first audit objective, we reviewed policies, processes and procedures describing the design of the due diligence framework and conducted interviews with the persons directly responsible for the conflict minerals program at the Company as well as interviews with the third-party service provider responsible for the design of the due diligence framework. For the second audit objective, we reviewed records supporting the implementation of due diligence measures as described in the Conflict Minerals Report and conducted interviews with the persons of the Company and the third-party service provider directly involved in the implementation of these measures. For the second audit objective, we adopted a sampling approach for the review of records, taking into account the type of mineral, the total population as well as type and level of risk associated with sourcing practices of supply chain actors.

 

We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings based on our audit objectives.

 

Management was provided an opportunity to review and offer comments on a draft of this report and had no comments to the draft report.

 

In our opinion,

 

·The design of the Company’s due diligence framework for the reporting period from January 1 to December 31, 2020, as set forth in the Conflict Minerals Report is in conformity, in all material respects, with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, and

 

·The Company’s description of the due diligence measures it performed as set forth in the Conflict Minerals Report for the reporting period from January 1 to December 31, 2020, is consistent with the due diligence process that the Company undertook.

 

 

RCS Global Ltd

London, 19 February 2021

 

/s/ Josue Ruiz

 

Josue Ruiz

Auditor

 

2



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