Sec. 10. Strategy for promoting transparency and good governance in Burma's jadeite and gemstone sector
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Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the appropriate officials of the Government of Burma, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a strategy to promote transparency and good governance in the jadeite, ruby, and gemstones sector of Burma in accordance with the decision of the Government of Burma on June 28, 2016, relating to licenses and establishing a new legal framework. In order to support the efforts of Government of Burma, the strategy required by subsection
(a)shall include the following elements: A plan to develop stronger governance, transparency, and economic institutions that can improve transparency and reduce exploitation in the gemstones industry of Burma by senior military figures and their associates (both directly and indirectly), military-owned enterprises, external actors, ethnic armed groups, and figures flagged by United States counter-narcotics sanctions, and promote local and regional economic development. A plan to provide guidance to commercial entities seeking to formalize their chain of custody and to exercise risk-based due diligence on their gemstone supply chains, to help such entities fulfil their responsibility to respect human rights and avoid directly or indirectly contributing to conflict through their sourcing decisions, including the choice of their suppliers. A plan to support the implementation of transparency provisions in the gemstone industry in line with best practice Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative requirements and recommendations, including the publication of beneficial ownership information, contract terms, and gemstone sales and revenue payments broken down by project. A plan to ensure licenses to export jadeite and rubies contain adequate safeguards against conflicts of interest and corruption and take into account bidder histories, including credible allegations of links to the military junta, narcotics trade, human rights abuses, or adverse social or environmental impacts. A plan to ensure that ethnic reconciliation and peace negotiations include a process to achieve consensus over resource sharing of jadeite, rubies, and other gemstones that takes into account community concerns with respect to equity, responsibility, and transparency management, and the sustainability of production and environmental and social impacts. A plan to assist the Government of Burma in the governance of the gemstones industry, including building necessary capacity, legal structures, auditing and financial structures, evaluation of remaining reserves, and other elements as may be necessary to ensure the sustainable and legal governance of the gemstones industry. In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.