Roundtable: Harmonizing Canada-US Disclosure

In July 2010, the United States passed the Dodd-Frank Act requiring all US-listed companies to publish what they pay to governments for natural resource exploration and extraction, country-by-country and even project-by-project. In addition, the law also requires companies for which Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or adjoining country-based conflict minerals are necessary inputs to their products to publicly disclose measures taken to determine the source of such minerals and disclose a description of the manufactured products that use conflict minerals from the region.

In an effort to build on the momentum created by the Dodd-Frank Act, and universalize emerging best practice in the extractive industries, Publish What You Pay-Canada (PWYP-Canada) and the Revenue Watch Institute, in partnership with the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, hosted a roundtable discussion entitled Harmonizing Canada-US Disclosure Requirements in the Extractive Industries.

The meeting brought together business, regulators, civil society and academia to discuss the potential impact of the US legislation on the Canadian regulatory regime and Canadian companies, as well as the best way forward for Canada as a major global player in the extractive industries and as a country committed to transparency and accountability. The discussion demonstrated broad support from the majority of participants, and was the first step in what is expected to be an on-going discussion with relevant Canadian stakeholders on how to improve revenue transparency in Canada and eliminate the use of conflict minerals.