Glossary term

supply chain due diligence scheme or due diligence scheme

EU Conflict Minerals Regulation term for voluntary due-diligence procedures, tools, mechanisms, and audits overseen by governments, industry associations, or interested organisations.

1 official sourceSingle-source term

What does supply chain due diligence scheme or due diligence scheme mean?

A due-diligence scheme is infrastructure for due diligence; it is not the importer’s entire legal responsibility. Public copy should keep the scheme, its oversight, audit logic, and recognition/evidence boundaries distinct from a company’s own risk-management actions.

Official definitions by source

EU Conflict Minerals

Regulation (EU) 2017/821 laying down supply chain due diligence obligations for Union importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating from conflict-affected and high-risk areas

a combination of voluntary supply chain due diligence procedures, tools and mechanisms, including independent third-party audits, developed and overseen by governments, industry associations or groupings of interested organisations

Article 2 definitions for EU conflict-minerals due diligence. Source-specific to tin, tantalum, tungsten, their ores, and gold.

Reference: Article 2, point (m)

View official source

Practical application

Implementation records should capture the scheme identifier, audit mechanism, oversight body, participating actors, procedure/tool scope, recognition status where applicable, audit report links, and the importer due-diligence controls that rely on the scheme.

Minespider commentary

A conflict-minerals due-diligence scheme is an assurance-infrastructure control: it can structure audits and procedures, but evidence still has to connect back to material scope, actor responsibility, and risk decisions.

Common confusions

  • A due-diligence scheme is voluntary infrastructure, not automatic fulfilment of every importer obligation.
  • A scheme audit is not the same thing as a complete chain-of-custody record.
  • A scheme label should not be used without the scheme identifier, oversight body, and audit/evidence scope.

Related regulations