commodity topnews 61 (2019): tin from myanmar – a scenario

Commodity TopNewsFakten ● Analysen ● Wirtschaftliche Hintergrundinformationen

61

TIN FROM MYANMAR – A SCENARIO FOR APPLYING THE EUROPEAN UNION REGU- LATION ON SUPPLY CHAIN DUE DILIGENCEChristian Heimig 1, Philip Schütte 2, Gudrun Franken 2, Christoph Klein 3

including, among others, conflict financing, the worst forms of child labor and human rights vi-olations. To this end, the OECD guidance defi-nes a five-step due diligence framework, which has been integrated into the EU regulation. The-se steps include establishing strong management systems, identifying and responding to supply chain risks, carrying out independent third-party audits at certain points in the supply chain, and public reporting on due diligence implementation (OECD, 2016).

1 Formerly Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, presently at Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG2 Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources3 Formerly Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, presently at KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

INTRODUCTION

Starting from January 1, 2021, European Union (EU)-based importers of tin, tantalum and tungs-ten, their ores, and gold are required to comply with the EU regulation on supply chain due dili-gence (EU, 2017). The EU regulation is based on the OECD due diligence guidance for responsib-le supply chains. The contents of this guidance provide a framework for companies to identify and mitigate risks in their mineral supply chains

Abb. 1:: Small-scale miners at the Mawchi tin mine, central Myanmar (photo: BGR).

Commodity TopNews2

The US Dodd-Frank Act, enacted in 2010, al-ready defines certain sourcing requirements for so-called conflict minerals. A range of industry in-itiatives has since been established in order to support regulatory compliance and risk manage-ment along upstream mineral supply chains. As the Dodd-Frank act introduced a geographic fo-cus on central Africa, early due diligence im-plementation efforts focused on supply chains originating from this region. However, the EU re-gulation defines a global scope for due diligence implementation in the supply chains of the affec-ted minerals and metals. On this background, mineral-producing regions beyond central Afri-ca may come under increasing scrutiny with re-gards to the feasibility of due diligence-related risk management in the context of international in-dustry initiatives. A critical factor is whether these mineral-producing regions correspond to the for-mal definition of a conflict-affected and high-risk area. While the EU Commission has commissi-

oned experts to develop an indicative global list of such areas, companies remain responsible for evaluating their own supply chains as part of their internal due diligence management (cf. Annex, Fig. A1). The present Commodity Top News illus-trates a model evaluation of this question based on a hypothetical supply chain scenario for tin ori-ginating from Myanmar.

SIGNIFICANCE OF TIN SUPPLY FROM MYANMAR FOR THE EU

The EU is an important market for tin smelter pro-ducts, with both Germany and the Netherlands being among the top-five global importers of re-fined tin. Germany’s most important tin suppliers are currently Indonesia and Peru. The so-called “Wa state” represents an autonomous region in Myanmar’s Shan state. Over the past few years, the region has become one of the most important

0

50.000

100.000

150.000

200.000

250.000

300.000

350.000

400.000

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017Pro

dukt

ion

Raf

finad

ezin

n (T

onne

n)

restliche WeltIndonesienMyanmar ("Wa-Staat"), in China verhüttetChina

0

50.000

100.000

150.000

200.000

250.000

300.000

350.000

400.000

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Ref

ined

tin

prod

uctio

n (to

ns)

ChinaMyanmar (mostly “Wa state“) smelted in ChinaIndonesiarest of the world

Figure 2: Origin of global refined tin production. The proportion of Myanmar-derived tin refined in China was estimated from reported Chinese tin ore concentrate imports from Myanmar assuming an average tin grade of 20 % 4(reference: BGR raw material database and GTIS, 2019).

4 The increasing value of Chinese concentrate imports from Myanmar reported for 2017 indicates that these concentrates had hig-her tin grades compared to previous years. Therefore, for 2017, the actual tin content contained in concentrates originating from Myanmar should be somewhat higher compared to the tonnage shown in the figure.

Commodity TopNews Commodity TopNews 3

tin mining areas at a global scale, after China and Indonesia (Figure 2). At the same time, the United Nations have identified the Wa Army, operating in the “Wa state”, as one of the parties to the local conflict. The Wa Army’s lack of initiative to stop the use of child soldiers represents a significant risk in the context of supply chain due diligence.

Tin ore mined in the “Wa state” is exclusively refined in China. In recent years, China expor-ted only small tonnages of refined tin and asso-ciated smelter products to Germany (cf. Annex, Table A1). This reflects China’s export tax re-gime for raw materials and its high level of dome-stic tin consumption. Therefore, tin mined in the “Wa state” is currently not likely to be directly af-fected by the EU regulation. Rather, this tin would mainly reach the EU in the form of downstream supply chain products such as smartphones ma-nufactured in China and then exported to Europe. However, China reduced export levies on refined tin in 2017 making it economically more attracti-ve for EU-based companies to import refined tin from China. This development makes it more re-levant for EU-based importers to reflect how they should manage the associated supply chain risks on the background of the EU regulation.

TIN FROM MYANMAR – MINING AND TRADE

The Southeast Asian tin belt, which includes My-anmar, has been the major source of global tin production over the past decades. In Myanmar, tin and tungsten have been mined at Mawchi from colonial times onwards; tin has also been mined in the Tanintharyi region. Tin mineraliza-tion in Myanmar is associated with both primary as well as secondary (placer) deposits (Gardi-ner et al., 2015). Over the past five years, My-anmar has become the third-largest tin miner in the world behind China and Indonesia. However, this development is not related to the above tra-ditional tin mining districts. Instead, it is due to tin production from new tin mines in the so-called “Wa state” within the Shan state (Figure 3).

The official tin production in areas controlled by the central government of Myanmar amounts to less than 1000 tons per year and, hence, is of mi-nor global importance. However, even in these re-gions controlling tin supply chains is not without its challenges due to significant smuggling risks. For example, the official purchasing price for tin concentrates from Mawchi is relatively low as it includes official levies and taxes. Therefore, this price cannot compete with black market prices of-fered for Mawchi tin production. Tin concentrates from Myanmar’s traditional tin mining areas typi-cally have grades around 65 % tin and are expor-ted to China or Thailand.

The so-called “Wa state” represents a globally important tin mining area. The autonomous regi-on borders China and is controlled by the “Uni-ted Wa State Party” and the “United Wa State Army” (UWSA). The UWSA represents the largest and best-equipped rebel group in Myanmar (The Irrawaddy, 2017). A ceasefire agreement with the central government of Myanmar has been in effect since 1989. The region was granted rela-tive autonomy until the adoption of a new cons-titution. However, the UWSA has not accepted Myanmar’s constitution of 2008. Given the de-facto independence of the region, the term “Wa state” is widely in use.

While other regions of the Shan state feature limi-ted road networks and trade, satellite images de-monstrate the continuing expansion of roads and border posts between the “Wa state” and China. The connection to China serves as the most im-portant factor for trade and economic develop-ment in the Shan state. The Chinese have also supported the substitution of local opium poppy cultivation with rubber and tea plantations since 2005 (Transnational Institute, 2012).

In 2005 rich tin deposits in the area of the “Wa sta-te” were discovered; a local tin mining boom has been observed since 2010 (Asian Metal, 2016; Xia & Lin, 2018). The “Wa state’s” tin ore produc-tion is exclusively exported to China (Figure 4). The metal grades of these tin concentrates cur-rently vary from 17 – 30 %, depending on the tin deposit’s ore grades and the associated mineral

Commodity TopNews4

processing techniques (Xia & Lin, 2018). A cen-tral warehouse for tin concentrates is located in the “Wa state’s” capital, Panghsang (Bangkang), at the border to the Chinese province of Yunnan (Figure 3). Regional traders, often based out of Menglian, facilitate the marketing of the tin con-centrates in China. A significant proportion of the concentrates is probably smelted in the Chine-se mining center of Gejiu. While Gejiu is located more than 700 km from Panghsang, with roads passing through a mountainous region, the local infrastructure is increasingly well developed and allows transport on mostly paved roads.

From the large number of tin smelters operating out of Gejiu, three companies – Yunnan Tin, Yun-nan Chengfeng and Gejiu Zili – are among the largest tin smelters in the world; their products are traded at the London Metal Exchange (cf. An-nex, Table A2). Smaller smelters sell their pro-ducts through local mineral trading companies (Asian Metal, 2017). Yunnan Tin fabricates the whole range of tin smelter products, from tin bars

to tin chlorides, all of which are classified as “me-tals” affected by the EU regulation.

A number of market observers expect that tin mi-ning in the “Wa state” has already reached its peak and will probably decline in the coming ye-ars. This development is due to reduced ore gra-des of the currently mined deposits as well as the reduction of local stockpiles of concentrates (Xia & Lin, 2018). Indeed, the reported Chine-se imports of tin ores and concentrates from My-anmar indicate a significant decline. Compared to 2016, the reported import tonnages for 2018 show a reduction of 54 % (Figure 4). However, this reduction mainly refers to concentrate tonna-ge whereas import values show only a moderate decline. Over the same time period, the interna-tional tin price increased by about 10 %. Therefo-re, tin price developments alone cannot account for the changes in unit value of Chinese tin con-centrate imports. Rather, the observed change in unit values may further imply increasing tin gra-des of the imported concentrates. Geologically, it appears plausible that the easily accessible ore

Yunnan(China) Lancang

Mongpauk

Menglian

„Wa state“(Myanmar)

Panghsang

tin mining areaconcentrate warehousepaved roads

Yunnan

Myanmar

India

Bangla-desh

Laos

Thailand

Vietnam

Cambodia

ChinaBhutan

Shan state

area of the „Wa state“

refining center

tin smelter

tin mining area

200 km

20 km

Figure 3: Map illustrating the location of the so-called “Wa state”, the tin production regions of Myanmar and the main trade and transport route for tin refining in China.


deposits of the “Wa state” show increasing de-pletion of tin resources. However, the last years have seen significant increases in the regional availability of venture capital, mining expertise, infrastructure development and processing faci-lities – these may incentivize further exploration and development of yet undiscovered tin depo-sits, possibly located at greater depth. Compared to the present-day tin mines, bringing these new deposits into production may eventually be asso-ciated with higher operating costs.

GENERAL RISK ASSESSMENT FOR “WA STATE” TIN

Any possible import of refined tin or other tin pro-ducts from the “Wa state” into the EU would like-ly follow the established supply chain structures through Chinese tin smelters. Assessing these smelters’ supply chain risk management systems through independent auditing would then form an important compliance check for downstream stakeholders with regards to due diligence. This could be demonstrated, for example, by participa-tion of these smelters in industry initiatives such

as the Responsible Minerals Initiative. Seven Ge-jiu-based tin smelters are currently certified by the initiative, with two more smelters classified as au-dit candidates (RMI, 2019). From the perspective of an EU-based importer of tin smelter products, the question whether the “Wa state” falls under the definition of a conflict-affected and high-risk area is highly relevant. Should this be the case, it implies higher requirements for chain of custody tracking, supply chain risk management as well as higher audit frequencies.

The EU Commission has published recommen-dations for non-binding guidelines that companies may use in order to identify conflict-affected and high-risk areas (European Commission, 2018). These guidelines refer to a combined range of indicator categories; checking of just a single in-dicator (such as conflict) does not necessarily im-ply the region’s classification as a conflict-affected and high-risk area. The latter requires the com-bined presence of several indicators. Evaluating individual regions in this fashion is based on pu-blicly available data sources.

0

200

400

600

800

1.000

0

100.000

200.000

300.000

400.000

500.000

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Impo

rt v

alue

(mill

ion

US$)

Impo

rts o

f tin

ore

s an

d co

ncen

trat

es (t

ons)

Figure 4: Tonnage (in blue) and value (in red) of Chinese tin concentrate imports from Myanmar (with al-most all tin ore essentially mined in the “Wa state”; reference: GTIS, 2019).

Commodity TopNews6

The following section illustrates a case study of applying the recommended guidelines to the “Wa state” in Myanmar (Table 1). In order to justify classifying a region as a conflict-affected or high-risk area, the EU regulation requires indications for human rights violations combined with a weak governance and security framework. Alternatively, or in addition to the above, the occurrence of “red flags” indicates the presence of relevant supply chain risks that should trigger enhanced due dili-gence measures by the affected companies. The EU recommends 26 specific data references for evaluating whether a region should be classified as a conflict-affected or high-risk area. At the time of research for the present study, 21 of these re-ferences included information on Myanmar. How-ever, only three references contained significant information with regards to the “Wa state”.

EVALUATION OF THE SPECIFIC RISK PROFILE

The illustrative evaluation above indicates that, based on the list of public data references recom-mended by the EU, affected downstream com-panies may not be able to provide a definitive

classification of the “Wa state” as a conflict-affec-ted and high-risk area. Similarly, a study commis-sioned by the International Tin Association did not reach a clear conclusion in this regard (keeping in mind that the latter study, published in 2015, pre-dates the EU regulation and the associated recommendations; Sirven & Nénot, 2015).

However, in case downstream stakeholders in the tin supply chain opt to consult additional re-ferences, they might derive more robust evalua-tion results, which suggest that a classification of the “Wa state” as a conflict-affected and high-risk area may be plausible. In fact, consulting addi-tional references is in line with the EU recom-mendations, which explicitly note that a number of international, national and regional references may provide relevant data for risk evaluations. For example, the UN Security Council’s working group on “children and armed conflict” rates the UWSA activities as critical and notes the recruit-ment of child soldiers (UN, 2017). Combined with the “Wa state’s” autonomy movements, this ob-servation as well as the presence of an armed group (the UWSA) and the observed institutional weakness represent indicators that would justify

Table 1: Illustration of a regional risk evaluation for Myanmar and the “Wa state” based on publicly acces-sible references according to EU recommendations *

Criterion Data extracted from references with regards to the “Wa state”/Myanmar

Conflikt National peace is rated as low/fragile. Eastern Myanmar is identified as a particularly conflict-prone region. UWSA participation in com-bat operations is documented, although not directly in tin-producing areas. Some references address independence movements in the Shan state, including that of the “Wa state”, as a combined problem.

Governance Myanmar populates the lowermost quartile of the Worldbank’s World-wide Governance Indicators. Fragility is rated as high, natural re-source governance indicators score very low.

Human rights Not much information is available on the human rights situation in the “Wa state” as international attention tends to focus on other topics (jade; Rohingya crisis). The recommended UN references do not include relevant data in this regard.

Mineral resources and mining

Country reports by the U.S. Geological Survey indicate the “Wa state’s” significance as a tin mining region.

* Corresponding to the matrix of table 4.2 in the EU recommendations (European Commission, 2018). The above table represents a summary; specific details are listed in the Annex, Table A3.


classifying the “Wa state” as a conflict-affected and high-risk area.

Considering these findings, EU-based companies importing tin from the region would need to en-sure detailed chain of custody tracking of their supply chains up to the level of individual mine sites in the “Wa state”. This also includes verify-ing all payments made in connection to mineral trade. Furthermore, it would necessitate indepen-dent auditing of risk management practice along these supply chains, either through an industry initiative or as a stand-alone exercise. The re-sponsibility for implementing these procedures, and documenting their implementation, mainly rests with the involved tin smelters. In case a gi-ven tin smelter processes tin ore originating from both China and the “Wa state”, this may be con-sidered as an OECD red flag indicator necessi-tating a more detailed evaluation of due diligence practice.

CONCLUSIONS

When developing the regulation on due diligence in the supply chains of tin and other raw materi-als, the EU deliberately decided to define a glo-bal scope of application, rather than focusing on mines in a limited geographic area. While this approach should avoid putting individual regions such as central Africa at a competitive disadvan-tage, it provides new implementation challenges.

On the one hand, this refers to identifying conflict-affected and high-risk areas. Even though the EU Commission plans the publication of an indicative list of such areas, the final responsibility for eva-luating the mineral sourcing framework of its sup-ply chains remains with the respective company. The Myanmar case study presented above shows that a clear regional classification might be chal-lenging. As such, different companies using va-riable research procedures and references may arrive at different conclusions in the end.

On the other hand, this refers to the practice of risk management in upstream supply chains ori-ginating in conflict and high-risk areas. In cen-

tral and east Africa, institutionalized systems have been operationalized in recent years. These sys-tems may support companies in setting up the ap-propriate management procedures on the ground. However, other global regions, such as Myanmar, lack practical experience in this regard. Establi-shing local support mechanisms in these regions would be a long-term process based on consulta-tions among producers, buyers, civil society and the government, and further considering the local implementation capacities.

Many Chinese smelters are already required to demonstrate chain of custody tracking and compli-ance with supply chain due diligence procedures, not only based on requirements by international industry initiatives but also via the Chinese due diligence guidelines (CCCMC, 2015). The EU re-gulation on due diligence further underlines the importance of this process. Given these deve-lopments, it is of growing importance to facilitate a global alignment of effective risk management in upstream mineral supply chain as a base for smelter certification.

REFERENCES

Asian Metal (2016): Black horse in global tin in-dustry: Grim prospects for Burma tin ore develop-ment, http://wap.asianmetal.com/interview/2016/interview_yuanmuEn.shtml

Asian Metal (2017): Asian Metal visits Gejiu Ji-nye, Yunnan Yunfan, Gejiu Kaimeng, Gejiu Zili and Qiandao Metal, http://www.asianmetal.com/cag/2017/visit2017120601en.shtml

CCCMC (2015): China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers and Ex-porters – Chinese Due Diligence Guidelines for Responsible Mineral Supply Chains.

EU (2017): Regulation (EU) 2017/821 of the Eu-ropean Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 laying down supply chain due diligence obligations for Union importers of tin, tantalum, tungsten, their ores, and gold originating from

Commodity TopNews8

conflict-affected and high-risk areas. Official Jour-nal of the European Union (130), 19.5.2017.

European Commission (2018): Commission Recommendation (EU) 2018/1149 of 10 August 2018 on non-binding guidelines for the identifica-tion of conflict-affected and high-risk areas and other supply chain risks under Regulation (EU) 2017/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Official Journal of the European Union L 208/94, 17.8.2018.

Gardiner, N. J., Sykes, J. P., Trench, A., Robb, L. J. (2015): Tin mining in Myanmar: production and potential. Resources Policy 46, 219-233. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2015.10.002

GTIS – Global Trade Information Services Inc. (2019): Global Trade Atlas. – kostenpflichtige-Online-Datenbank. – https://www.gtis.com/gta/https://www.gtis.com/gta/ [Stand: 06/2019])

OECD (2016): OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, Third Edition. OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264252479-en

RMI (2019): Responsible Minerals Initiative – Responsible Minerals Assurance Process, list of “active” and “conformant” smelters and refiners. http://www.responsiblemineralsinitiative.org/ Last accessed on 15.5.2019

Sirven, Q & Nénot, B. (2015): High-level as-sessment on OECD Annex II risks in Wa territo-ry in Myanmar. Forschungsbericht im Auftrag von ITRI Ltd. https://www.internationaltin.org/wp-con-tent/uploads/2018/02/High-level-assessment-on-OECD-Annex-II-risks-in-Wa-territory.pdf

The Irrawaddy (2017): Who are the Wa? Article by Bertil Lintner, 26.5.2017. https://www.irrawad-dy.com/from-the-archive/who-are-the-wa.html

Transnational Institute (2012): Financing Dis-possession: China’s Opium Substitution Program-me in Northern Burma.

UN (2017): Children and armed conflict. Re-port of the Secretary-General, 24.8.2017, United Nations Security Council Document A/72/361–S/2017/821, http://undocs.org/S/2017/821

Xia, D. & Lin, C. (2018): Myanmar tin supply pro-spects – shortages may be coming. Presentati-on at the Asia Tin Week, Shenzhen, 17.9.2018

EDITORIAL

Publisher: © Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover, October 2019

B1.2 Geologie der mineralischen Rohstoffe Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR) Stilleweg 2 30655 Hannover

E-mail: [email protected] www.bgr.bund.de


Whe

re w

ere

the

min

eral

s/m

etal

s pr

oduc

ed a

nd tr

aded

? M

anag

emen

t sys

tem

: ide

ntify

the

sour

cing

regi

on o

f the

min

eral

s/m

etal

s

Eval

uate

situ

atio

n in

regi

on o

f m

iner

al/m

etal

orig

in

(pub

lic s

ourc

es o

f inf

orm

atio

n)

Ris

k m

itiga

tion

(OEC

D A

nnex

III)

Eval

uate

the

pres

ence

of r

ed fl

ags

in

the

supp

ly c

hain

Con

duct

due

dilig

ence

risk

ass

essm

ent

alon

g w

hole

sup

ply

chai

n

Incl

uded

on

EU li

st

of c

onfli

ct-a

ffect

ed

and

high

-risk

are

as1

Reg

ion

fits

defin

ition

of

a c

onfli

ct-a

ffect

ed

and

high

-risk

are

a

Red

flag

s ap

ply

Con

clud

e su

pply

cha

in d

ue d

iligen

ce

risk

eval

uatio

n

Supp

ly c

hain

as

soci

ated

with

co

nflic

t-affe

cted

and

hi

gh-ri

sk a

rea

Con

duct

due

dilig

ence

risk

ass

essm

ent

alon

g w

hole

sup

ply

chai

n

no

yes

noye

s

unce

rtai

n

no

noye

s

ja

1Th

e EU

list

of c

onfli

ct-a

ffect

ed a

nd h

igh-

risk

area

s is

of i

ndic

ativ

e ch

arac

ter o

nly

Des

ign

and

impl

emen

t a s

trat

egy

to

resp

ond

to ri

sks

(OEC

D s

tep

3)

Iden

tify

and

eval

uate

sup

ply

chai

n ris

ks(O

ECD

ste

p 2)

ANNEX

Figu

re A

1: Il

lust

rativ

e flo

wch

art f

or c

ompa

nies

eva

luat

ing

regi

onal

risk

pro

files

with

rega

rds

to m

iner

als/

met

als

in th

eir s

uppl

y ch

ains

and

cov

ered

by

the

EU

regu

latio

n on

su

pply

cha

in d

ue d

ilige

nce.

Commodity TopNews10

Table A2: List of selected tin smelters based out of Gejiu, Yunnan, associated LME trade labels for tin bars, and compliance status within the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI, as of: December 2018)*

Tin smelter LME tin trade label RMI status

Gejiu Fengming Metallurgy Chemical Plant

– Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP) conformant

Gejiu Jinye Mineral Company YINSHENG RMAP conformant

Gejiu Kai Meng Industry and Trade LLC

– RMAP conformant

Gejiu Non-Ferrous Metal Pro-cessing Co., Ltd.

– RMAP conformant

Gejiu Yunxin Nonferrous Elec-trolysis Co., Ltd.

– RMAP conformant

Gejiu Zili Mining and Metallurgy Co.

YS RMAP active participant

Yunnan Chengfeng Non-fer-rous Metals Co., Ltd.

YUNHENG RMAP conformant

Yunnan Tin Company Limited YT RMAP conformant

Yunnan Yunfan Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd.

– RMAP active participant

* Data according to the websites of LME (https://www.lme.com/en-GB/Trading/Brands/Approved-brands) and RMI (http://www.responsiblemineralsinitiative.org/tin-conformant-smelters/)

Table A1: Volume thresholds for minerals and metals containing tin covered by the EU regulation (import data from GTIS 2019).

Description CN code (combined

nomenclature)

Volume threshold

(tons)

EU-28 total imports in 2018

(tons)

German imports in 2018

(tons)

Tin ores and concentrates

2609 5 304 0

Tin oxides and hydroxides

ex 2825 9085 To be defined until 1.4. / 1.7.2020

n/a n/a

Tin chlorides 2827 3910 10 413 (2017) 430

Tin, unwrought 8001 100 46.996 22.157

Tin bars, rods, pro-files and wires

8003 1,4 891 362

Tin, other articles 8007 2,1 4.073 954


Ass

essm

ent

cate

gory

Cove

r-ag

ePublic reference Illustrative analysis with regards to

the “Wa state” (Myanmar)

CO

NFL

ICT

GLO

BA

L

Analytical sources

Heidelberg conflict barometerhttp://www.hiik.de

The 2017 report categorizes eastern Myanmar including Shan state and the “Wa state” as in a state of “violent crisis”. The on-going conflict (since 1988) over regional autonomy between the UWSA, NDAA and the government is described as currently “de-escalated to a dispute”

Geneva Academy Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts http://rulac.org

Myanmar is not included in the list of monitored countries

Assessment Capacities Project – Global Emergency Overviewhttps://www.acaps.org/countries/

Myanmar is in a "situation of concern", focus on Rohingya crisis

Maps or tables

Uppsala conflict data program – Georef-erenced event dataset http://www.ucdp.uu.se/ged/

The ICDP presents a world map with georeferenced fatality reports. No fatali-ties by the UWSA forces have been reg-istered since 2005. However, the UWSA is described as having been involved in the intra-state and non-state categories of UCDP organized violence, including clashes with government forces.

CrisisWatch http://www.crisisgroup.org

Focus on the Rohingya crisis. Shan state armed groups are mentioned in the October 2018 report: “Government and representatives of ten non-state armed groups met in summit in Naypyidaw 15 – 16 Oct, third anniversary of signing of Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement; no real progress in overcoming main issues deadlocking peace process, including military demands that armed groups accept principle of non-secession before further dialogue on federalism and secu-rity sector reform. Conflict in Kachin and Northern Shan states still eased due to monsoon season and summit, although clashes starting to increase in Northern Shan.”

Global Peace Index http://www.visionofhumanity.org

Myanmar ranked 122/163, "low state of peace"

Major Episodes of Political Violence http://systemicpeace.org

In 2016, the Myanmar nationwide situ-ation was categorized as “ethnic war, serious warfare, Magnitude 4: High level of state fragility and warfare“

Table A3: List of public references recommended by the European Commission (EU 2018/1149) and illust-rative data analysis with regards to the “Wa state” / Myanmar.

Commodity TopNews12

Ass

essm

ent

cate

gory

Cove

r-ag

e

Public reference Illustrative analysis with regards to the “Wa state” (Myanmar)

CO

NFL

ICT

RE

GIO

NA

L

Armed Conflict Location and Event Data http://www.acleddata.com

Only few registered events for the “Wa state”

International Peace Information Service – Conflict mappinghttp://ipisresearch.be

IPIS’ work is focused on Africa

International Tin Association https://www.internationaltin.org

ITA (the successor of ITRI) commis-sioned a research report in 2015 (cf. reference list). Myanmar is identified as a relevant region for tin mining.

The iTSCi program (http://www.itsci.org; coordinated by ITA), which facilitates risk and incident reporting, currently focuses on central Africa and does not include Myanmar. Specific supply chain data from the program is not public but only accessible to program members.

Environmental Justice Atlas – Mining conflicts in Latin Americahttp://ejatlas.org/featured/mining-latam

While the EJA has a global coverage, the mining conflict-specific sub-site rec-ommended by the EU focuses on Latin America. The general EJA website men-tions conflicts over coal mining in Myan-mar’s Shan state.

GO

VE

RN

AN

CE

GLO

BA

L

Worldwide Governance Indicatorshttp://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi

Myanmar in the global 10-25th percentile range. Overall positive trends for Myan-mar in terms of voice and accountability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and control of corrup-tion rankings. Deteriorating rankings for political stability and absence of violence/terrorism in the 2017 report

Fragile States Index http://fundforpeace.org/fsi/

Myanmar ranked as 22nd (of 178) most fragile state in 2018

Corruption Perception Index http://www.transparency.org/research/cpi/overview

Myanmar ranks 130 out of 180 countries

National Resource Governance Institute https://resourcegovernance.org

Myanmar ranked 83/89 in the Resource Governance Index; note that NRGI reporting focuses on oil, gas, and gem-stone revenues (not tin).

HU

MA

N R

IGH

TS

WE

LTW

EIT

United Nations Security Council resolutions http://www.un.org/en/sc/docu-ments/resolutions

No relevant resolutions on Myanmar

United Nations Human Rights Councilhttps://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/ Pages/AboutCouncil.aspx

“Wa state” is mentioned in the annual report 2018, but without providing specific information

continuation table A3


Ass

essm

ent

cate

gory

Cove

r-ag

e

Public reference Illustrative analysis with regards to the “Wa state” (Myanmar)

HU

MA

N R

IGH

TS

GLO

BA

L

Office of the United Nations High Com-missioner for Human Rights http://www.ohchr.org/EN/pages/home.aspx

Same as previous

United Nations Development Program – International Human Development Indi-cators – Country profiles http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries

Myanmar ranks 148 on the Human Development Index

Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries

No specific mentioning of “Wa state” in the Myanmar country profile

Global Witness https://globalwitness.org/en-gb/

Public reporting focuses on jade and the associated problems of Myanmar’s mining sector.

Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/

Focus on illegal land grabbing and the Rohingya crisis

Mines and Communities http://www.minesandcommunities.org

Myanmar is mentioned in several arti-cles. One of them (http://www.minesand-communities.org/article.php?a=13423) references the question of tin from Myan-mar in the context of the EU regulation.

MIN

ER

AL

RE

SO

UR

CE

S A

ND

MIN

ING

GLO

BA

L

British Geological Survey https://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/statis-tics/ worldStatistics.html

World Mineral Production, 2012-2016 edition: Myanmar is listed as a source of tin. No specific mentioning of the “Wa state”.

U.S. Geological Survey http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/

The USGS Minerals Yearbook on Burma for 2015 references the Man Maw tin mine in the “Wa state”.

The 2018 tin mineral commodity sum-mary provides general production and mineral resource estimates.

The 2015 USGS Minerals Yearbook on tin references the link of Burma (Myan-mar) as a supplier of tin ores and con-centrates for China.

EU Raw Materials Information Systemhttp://rmis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/

No country profile for Myanmar available at the time of research; no information on Myanmar or the “Wa state”.

continuation table A3

commodity topnews 61 (2019): tin from myanmar – a scenario

Documents