Complaint #IRMA-2026-001

Respondent(s) IRMA
Complainant Forest Peoples Programme
Mine Site Sorowako
Operating Company PT Vale Indonesia
Country Indonesia
Region/District/Province South Sulawesi
Summary This complaint raises questions about IRMA’s policies and procedures for assessing potential conflicts of interests that IRMA accredited certification bodies (auditors) may have with mine sites engaged in third-party assurance. The complaint identifies specific concerns regarding affiliate-level conflicts of interest and independence during site-level stakeholder engagement.
Status Status: OPEN

  • Nov 2026: IRMA values all external input on the IRMA assurance process and has already taken action on this complaint since it was first raised to us in March 2026. Our actions have included contracting with ASI to conduct an independent and formal benchmarking exercise of our impartiality controls in the assurance process and also to use this audit as a focus of their scheduled head office assessment to assess whether the audit firm’s systems meet IRMA’s requirements for impartiality management and whether their system was implemented fully regarding this audit. The outcome of these inquiries are expected to result in further improvements to the IRMA assurance process to further support audit independence.
  • 22 July 2026: Complaint published online
  • 17 July 2026: First part of ASI review shared with complainant
  • 16 April 2026: Scope of ASI review finalized
  • 18 March 2026: Referral to Assurance Services International (ASI) for independent review
  • 16 March 2026: Complaint received by IRMA

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