Fulfilling global mandates in responsible mica sourcing
The Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI) aligns its programs and standards with leading global conventions, international guidelines, and due diligence frameworks, including OECD Due Diligence Guidelines and UNGPs, and contributes to the SDGs. By doing so, RMI supports companies in meeting global human rights expectations, responsible sourcing requirements, and mica-specific regulatory obligations.
RMI goals and programs are designed to advance several major international labor protections, including:
United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), which set out the responsibility of businesses to protect and respect human rights across their operations and value chains.
International Labor Organization (ILO) Minimum Age Convention (1973) and Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention (1999), which require member states to adopt and enforce laws preventing child labor.
The RMI constantly seeks, through the development of its strategies and programs, to ensure as much alignment as possible with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, as well as the related Practical actions for companies to identify and address the worst forms of child labor in mineral supply chains.
RMI programs directly fulfill Step 3 of the Practical Actions guidance, which calls on businesses to “design and implement a strategy to respond to identified risk.”
Through its three program pillars, RMI contributes to elements of eight United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, supporting global progress on:
RMI membership provides companies with a strong framework to meet due diligence and responsible sourcing expectations, in the mica sector:
MI implements specific upstream Due Diligence & mitigation measures as a multi-stakeholder Initiative (audits, trainings, Community Empowerment Programs, mining groups formalization…), helping member companies to meet their legal and due diligence requirements
RMI educates & facilitates collective upstream implementation with members & their supply chains (working groups and thematic meetings, conferences, studies, industry and supply chain discussions…)
RMI provides data & tools for members to use in implementing their own upstream due diligence measures and to report (workplace standards, traceability trees, audit reports, risks and gap assessments…)
RMI workstreams follow international standards, providing a solid basis to meet current and upcoming requirements.
RMI’s Workplace Standards provide policies and practices grounded in global voluntary standards and conventions, including ILO and OECD guidelines. Implementing these standards through a cycle of assessments, training, audits, CAP and re-audits enables member companies to implement the essential components of human rights due diligence and mitigate existing risks.
RMI members are required to ask and support all mica processing sites and mine operators identified in their upstream value chains through the annual mapping protocol to adopt the Workplace Standards. These standards ensure safe and responsible working conditions and include mechanisms for monitoring, verification, and improvement.
Each participant in a member’s upstream supply chain is required to adopt or support adoption of the Workplace Standards. These standards cover environmental, health, safety, legal, economic, and fair labor practices, including a prohibition on child labor.
This value-chain-wide approach enables companies to meet due diligence requirements comprehensively across all actors involved in mica extraction and processing.