Additionally, through our RMI membership, we support the further development and implementation of due diligence practices and tools, such as the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template and the RMAP.
Report Annually on Supply Chain Due Diligence
The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission its Form SD, which includes this Report as Exhibit 1.01, for the reporting period of January 1 to December 31, 2022. In accordance with the OECD Guidance and the Rule, this Report is available on our website at http://ir.dish.com/financial-information/sec-filings.
PART III. DESCRIPTION OF DUE DILIGENCE MEASURES PERFORMED;
RESULTS OF OUR DUE DILIGENCE MEASURES
Inherent Limitations on Due Diligence Measures
As a downstream purchaser of products which contain Conflict Minerals, our due diligence measures can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance regarding the source and chain of custody of Conflict Minerals. Our due diligence processes are based on the necessity of seeking data from our direct suppliers and those suppliers seeking similar information within their supply chains to identify the original sources of Conflict Minerals. We also rely, to a large extent, on information collected and provided by responsible mineral sourcing validation programs. Such sources of information may yield inaccurate or incomplete information and may be subject to fraud.
Another complicating factor is the unavailability of country of origin and chain of custody information from our suppliers on a continuous, real-time basis. The supply chain of commodities such as Conflict Minerals is a multi-step process operating more or less on a daily basis, with ore being delivered to smelters and refiners, with smelters and refiners smelting or refining ores into metal containing derivatives such as ingots, with the derivatives being shipped, sold and stored in numerous market locations around the world and with distributors and purchasers holding varying amounts of the derivatives in inventory for use. Since we do not have direct contractual relationships with smelters and refiners, we rely on our direct suppliers and the entire supply chain to gather and provide specific information about the date when the ore is smelted into a derivative and later shipped, stored, sold and first entered the stream of commerce.
Compilation and Analysis of Responses
For the reporting period of January 1 to December 31, 2022, the Company identified 18 relevant suppliers. In the first quarter of 2023, the Company sent each such supplier on the Supplier List a letter requesting completion of the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template. The Company followed up with suppliers that did not respond to the Company’s request by the specified date or that submitted incomplete or inaccurate requests.
The Company received responses from 18, or 100%, of the solicited suppliers, including completed Conflict Minerals Reporting Templates from 18, or 100%, of the solicited suppliers. Through the use of the Conflict Minerals Response Database and access to the RMAP information, we were able to identify the smelters and refiners we believe were used to process the Conflict Minerals contained in our Covered Products as set forth in Annex 1 attached to this Report, as well as to identify which of those smelters and refiners were “RMAP Conformant” or “RMAP Active.” After correction, review, and removal of duplicate or alternate names, and elimination of entities we determined were not actually smelters or refiners, and elimination of entities for which we were unable to determine if they were a relevant smelter or refiner, we identified 418 unique smelters.