6　平和の主体としての消費者市民社会　コンゴの紛争鉱物取引規制をめぐって

抄録

This article considers the role of the Consumer Citizenship Society in developed countries in solving the problems of the producing areas in developing countries. The structure of the world economy has led to global issues such as poverty, labor exploitation, environmental destruction, and conflict minerals. With the development of concepts such as consumer citizenship, ethical consumption, and social responsibility, consumers benefitting from the world economic structure have come to be expected to act in ways that fulfill the social responsibility required to solve such issues.

In one such instance, this article examines the problem of conflict minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Armed groups engaging in human rights violations in eastern DRC utilize the profit from the production and trade of gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten (3TG). To address this issue, two regulations on Congolese conflict minerals were enacted in 2010: “Due Diligence Guidance” by the OECD and “Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act” in the United States. These regulations aim to curtail funding sources for armed groups in the DRC by imposing public disclosure and reporting requirements on issuers that use 3TG in their manufacturing processes.

However, there is much debate among experts on whether these regulations contribute to a resolution of the conflict situation in the DRC. There is also a concern for costs that companies and consumers would have to bear as a result of the regulations. This raises the question of why countries have decided to enact such burdensome regulations in light of the large regulatory cost burden balanced against an unclear regulatory effect. Through an analysis of the debate over trade regulations for conflict minerals, this article delineates the role of the Consumer Citizenship Society and consumer awareness on ethical consumption.