Gold Trade Data Must be Made Public: UN Expert Group

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The United Nations (UN) group of experts on Congo released their annual report, which calls upon governments to make public their gold trade data, so as to help prevent smuggling and acts of violence around mines in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

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The report indicated heightened fighting over gold deposits involving various ethnic groups. It also cited widespread mineral trafficking involving armed groups and security forces across its border with Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. The smuggled gold reaches far destinations, including Dubai and India, with Chinese nationals involved in these illegal trades. As per the report, tonnes of precious metals are being smuggled into global supply chains through its eastern neighbours.

Though the country continues to be one of the region’s largest artisanal gold producers, the official gold exports from the country has been nominal.

The expert group recommends that UN member states need to publish complete production statistics as well as complete and disaggregated statistics on the import and export of natural resources, including gold, on a yearly basis. It must be noted that the spiralling gold prices have led to significant spike in informal gold mining in the mineral-rich eastern belt of Congo.