The Echoes from AEFJN No. 30 - July August 2016 are now available online. 
1407 1408 Working Group news on Natural Resources
- Rough and Polished: South Africa Shortchanged on Diamond Trade
According to 100reporters investigation "South Africa's diamond industry is benefitting from royalty and export tax structures riddled with loopholes, shortchanging citizens of one of the world's premier sources of diamonds of tens of millions of dollars a year in revenue." The diamond industry has been a dominant player in the South African economy and while benefiting massively the industry has avoided paying many mining royalties. Even with the introduction of royalties in 2010, transnationals such as De Beers "pay a royalty rate far lower than that of other African states." The article identifies the causes and historical roots of this lost public revenue.
2. Report of the Initiative on Transparency in the Extractive Industries in RDC 2011
The report of the Initiative on Transparency in the Extractive Industries (EITI) in RDC 2011 has been launched in Kinshasa. This report makes the statements of payments done by companies exploiting natural resources. This report is the result of the combined effort by all stakeholders, namely the government, mining companies and civil society. The data provided by the EITI give an idea of the contribution of the hydrocarbon sector and Mines to the national budget. Payments made in 2011 by companies in the mining sector are of the order of $ 942,617,547 while those of the hydrocarbon sector are estimated at $ 465,655,806.
3. Joint Civil Society Briefing: Ensuring robust EU legislation on responsible mineral sourcing
The new European Parliament has a critical opportunity to strengthen legislation proposed by the European Commission that aims to create responsible mineral supply chains for Europe. In its current form the Commission’s proposal, a voluntary scheme open to a limited number of companies, is weak and unfit for purpose. The Civil Society is calling on MEPs to amend the draft legislation so that it legally requires companies to check their supply chains and identify and mitigate risk – a process known as due diligence – in line with existing international standards. Companies should also be required to report publicly on their efforts.