The United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) convened a workshop on “Strengthening Traceability and Law Enforcement Responses to Minerals Crime through South–South Cooperation”, as part of the pre-conference programme of the 2026 Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Global Conference.
The workshop brought together participants from Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Peru, Spain and Zambia, representing mining authorities, customs, police, prosecution services, financial intelligence units and civil society. These included Colombia’s Vice-Minister of Mines and European Union competent authorities responsible for implementing the Conflict Minerals Regulation.
Representatives of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the World Customs Organization (WCO), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), EITI, the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) and the European Commission also contributed.
Together, participants examined a practical question: how can traceability information help authorities prevent, detect and investigate minerals crime?
Connecting traceability with enforcement needs
Access to reliable information remains a persistent challenge across complex mineral supply chains. Traceability can help establish the origin and movement of minerals, but its contribution to responsible sourcing and law enforcement depends on reliable data, effective verification and the ability of authorities to access and use the information. Corruption can undermine these conditions, allowing criminal activity to be concealed behind apparently legitimate records.
Drawing on a pre-workshop survey and participants’ experience, discussions focused on four themes: the function, type and coverage of traceability systems; data collection and input; accessibility and use by law enforcement; and areas for improvement.
Participants compared systems serving different purposes, including mineral regulation, revenue collection and responsible sourcing. They examined gaps in coverage across supply chain actors and stages, particularly where minerals pass through intermediaries or are mixed and processed.
Supporting exchanges between producing and importing countries
The participation of authorities from producing and importing countries brought together expertise in monitoring mineral production and trade with expertise in due diligence and verification further along the supply chain.outh–South exchanges provided opportunities to compare approaches and identify practices that could be adapted to different national contexts. Participants explored improvements including more timely information sharing, clearer responsibilities across agencies, stronger verification and closer links between traceability systems and investigative needs.
UNICRI and OECD will draw on the survey and workshop discussions to develop a practitioner paper examining operational gaps, practical improvements and opportunities for further cooperation.
The workshop forms part of UNICRI’s work to strengthen understanding of minerals crime and support responses to the risks of organized crime and in mineral supply chains.
