Chapter 04 · People & supply chainsSupply Chain & Due Diligence
Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI)
Definition
The Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative was founded in 2008 by the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative to help companies source tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold without financing armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining countries. Its core tools were the Conflict-Free Smelter Program of third-party smelter audits and the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template; it became the principal mechanism supporting compliance with Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act and was renamed the Responsible Minerals Initiative in 2017 as its scope broadened beyond 3TG.
References
initiative role; third-party smelter audit programme
2008 founding by EICC/GeSI; 2017 rename to RMI; CMRT/CRT tools
launch announcement and tool set
Overview
What it means
It pioneered shared, industry-wide due diligence rather than company-by-company effort.
How it is used
The CMRT remains the standard supplier-survey tool, and the conformant smelter/refiner list (now the RMAP list) is the industry's reference for conflict-free sourcing; a Cobalt Reporting Template was added in 2018.
Why it matters
CFSI's model of pooled audits and templates now shapes responsible sourcing across minerals, from cobalt to mica.