Customer Protection

We undertake our own customer protection and social responsibility programmes in line with the major international standards.

Customer Protection

We undertake our own customer protection and social responsibility programmes in line with the major international standards. Our efforts are directed to respect customer and human rights, as these are of particular importance for our group as we are a multicultural company. Consumers and distributors are increasingly aware of the guarantees that we offer.

This sensitivity, deriving from precious metals and oil & gas activity quickly expanded to all the products and services we offer through all our companies. Seasif Holding Ltd has always included values associated with product safety in its quality policy and immediately seized the opportunity this cultural evolution presented to the industrial world, by adopting management systems in line with product quality, safety and lawfulness international standards. This analysis is periodically reviewed to ensure it is always up-to-date in relation to new knowledge and technological evolution underway.

SUSTAINABILITY IN OIL & GAS INDUSTRY

Over the past years, the petroleum industry has faced several complex challenges. The oil industry must invest pro rata to the increasing demand for energy in the world, and on the other hand, in view of the more competitive activities in these sectors, this industry should reduce the total cost of production of hydrocarbon resources, while simultaneously adhering to the environmental laws and social responsibilities.

We provide to our distribution clients, as gas stations, transportation and logistic companies, a green product, that contains between 6% to 9% of palm oil, in order to support the environment, and the consumption of green products such as biodiesel.

We also support green projects by investing from 1 to 2 million euros each year in green certificates, which are actually used to finance sustainable projects.

Seasif Holding Ltd is continuing to develop an effective strategic approach in response to recent changes in supply chain challenges and opportunities. During the last several years a strategic roadmap is built on Seasif Holding Ltd’s mission to act as a catalyst towards improved social and environmental performance in global commodity production and trade through scientific research; policy analysis; highlighting best practice; facilitating learning and more.

Over the next years, Seasif Holding Ltd will reinforce the relation between the supply of commodities and sustainable livelihoods by enabling complementary private and public sector contributions to sustainable and equitable developments in commodity markets.


DUE DILLIGENCE IN COLOMBIA'S GOLD SUPPLY CHAIN

(Source: some extraction from the OECD study) This report is the first of a series of assessments on Colombian gold supply chains and aims to develop an initial approach and analysis for how risks of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas are relevant in the Colombian context.)

Current Colombian government initiatives to promote responsible mineral production and trade

Colombian authorities are rolling out a series of initiatives that aim to improve traceability of the country’s gold supply chain. The main new mechanism to track the provenance of gold is the Single Registry for Mineral Traders (Registro Unico de Comercilaizadores Mineros – RUCOM). The need for this registry was originally outlined in President Juan Manuel Santos’ Development Plan for his first term in 2011 as a way of assuring that mineral traders acquire their products from legal producers as defined by Colombian legislation.
Initially due to start operating in March 2013, the deadline to sign up was extended to January 2014 and finally to January 2015 while authorities refined the requirements and built the capacity to manage the registry. The RUCOM introduced a number of new requirements aimed at improving traceability of minerals produced in Colombia, including:

  • To register, mineral traders must provide financial statements and tax certificates to the National Mining Agency. In the case of international gold traders, they must be certified by the National Tax and Customs Agency. This information will be updated annually and the ANM will issue a certificate to all registered mineral traders.
  • Traders holding mineral stocks without a certificate were allowed to sell them before the end of 2015.

Authorities have noted that the results of the initial registration process have been positive.

Private sector and community-based responsible gold supply chains

Colombia is on the path of becoming a member of the Extractive Sector Transparency Initiative (EITI). Since 2010, a tripartite group of private companies, Colombian authorities and civil society organisations has made progress towards full accession. In 2014, Colombia’s application was accepted and an action plan was drafted. Close to 22 large-scale oil and mining companies - out of which just two are gold producers – have agreed to participate in an initial evaluation of transparency in tax payments and access to information. A strong network of civil society organisations is closely monitoring the implementation of EITI at the local level.

Though the implementation of the action plan is still in its early stages, it has forced authorities to take the issue of active disclosure of information on taxation and royalty payments very seriously. Already efforts like a new royalty payment tracking mechanism for the public to consult have been designed (Departamento Nacional de Planeación, 2015), and further efforts to cross reference these with the data from companies and sub-national authorities are underway (Interview with members of civil society organisations overseeing the implementation of EITI in Colombia, 2015).

'Fairmined' initiatives have also emerged in Colombia, particularly interesting is the participation of gold mining associations and cooperatives in the international initiative "Alliance for Responsible Mining" created in 2002, which develops processes of promoting and supporting artisanal mining communities: "Oro verde" ("Green gold") in the Chocó department was the first initiative. Since their creation, these responsible mining initiatives, totalling hundreds of miners, have generated a demand for fair trade jewellery and provided an economic incentive for miners to continue using environmentally and socially responsible methods.

Since jewellers in Europe and in the US seem ready to pay extra for conflict-free and environmentally sustainable gold, these initiatives could be scaled up to meet demand.