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SD Filing
Alphatec (ATEC) SDConflict minerals disclosure
Filed: 21 May 24, 4:42pm
Exhibit 1.01
ALPHATEC HOLDINGS, INC.
Conflict Minerals Report
For the Year Ended December 31, 2023
This Conflict Minerals Report (“Report”) has been prepared by Alphatec Holdings, Inc. (“Alphatec,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) for the reporting period January 1 to December 31, 2023 (“Reporting Period”). This Report is presented to comply with the final conflict minerals implementing rules (the “Rules”) promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), as modified by SEC guidance issued on April 29, 2014 and SEC Order issued on May 2, 2014. The Rules were adopted by the SEC to implement reporting and disclosure requirements related to conflict minerals as directed by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, as codified in Section 13(p) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Rules impose certain reporting obligations on SEC registrants whose manufactured products contain conflict minerals that are necessary to the functionality or production of their products. The specific minerals at issue are cassiterite, columbite-tantalite, gold, wolframite, and their derivatives, which are limited to tin, tantalum and tungsten (collectively, “Conflict Minerals”).
To comply with the Rules, we conducted due diligence on the origin, source and chain of custody of the Conflict Minerals that were necessary to the functionality or production of the products that we manufactured or contracted to manufacture during the Reporting Period to ascertain whether these Conflict Minerals originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country (collectively, “Covered Countries”) and financed or benefited armed groups (as defined in Section 1, Item 1.01(d)(2) of Form SD) in any of these Covered Countries.
Pursuant to SEC guidance issued April 29, 2014 and the SEC Order issued May 2, 2014, Alphatec is not required to describe any of its products as “DRC conflict free” (as defined in Section 1, Item 1.01(d)(4) of Form SD), “DRC conflict undeterminable” (as defined in Section 1, Item 1.01(d)(5) of Form SD) or “having not been found to be ‘DRC conflict free,’” and therefore makes no conclusion in this regard in the Report presented herein. Furthermore, given that Alphatec has not voluntarily elected to describe any of its products as “DRC conflict free,” an independent private sector audit of the Report presented herein has not been conducted.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements made in this Report, which express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not historical fact, are forward-looking statements, including statements relating to compliance efforts and expected actions identified under the “Risk Mitigation” section of this Report. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, among other things, our ability to implement improvements in our conflict minerals program and identify and mitigate related risks in our supply chain. If one or more of these or other risks materialize, actual results may vary materially from those expressed. For a more complete discussion of these and other risk factors, see our other filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. We caution not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Report, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, except to the extent required by applicable law.
We are a medical technology company, headquartered in Carlsbad, California, focused on the design, development, and advancement of technology for better surgical treatment of spine disorders. By applying our unique, 100% spine focus and deep, collective industry know-how, we aim to revolutionize the approach to spine surgery through clinical distinction. The sophisticated approaches that we create from the ground up integrate with our expanding Alpha InformatiX™ ("AIX") product platform to objectively inform surgery and achieve the goals of spine surgery more predictably and more reproducibly. We have a comprehensive product portfolio designed to address the spine’s various pathologies, and are perpetually innovating to accomplish our ultimate vision, which is to be the standard bearer in spine. We are a Delaware corporation. We were incorporated in March 2005. Our principal executive office is located at 1950 Camino Vida Roble, Carlsbad, California 92008 and our telephone number is (760) 431-9286. Our Internet address is www.atecspine.com.
We conducted an analysis of our products during the Reporting Period and determined that certain of our spinal hardware offerings and certain components of our imaging and nerve detection and avoidance systems were likely to contain Conflict Minerals. This determination was made due to the anticipated presence of such minerals in parts obtained from suppliers, either contract manufacturers or original equipment manufacturers, or from utilization of conflict minerals in manufacturing processes employed by our suppliers. Because of this determination, we conducted a reasonable country of origin inquiry (“RCOI”), which was designed to determine whether any of the necessary Conflict Minerals in our products originated or may have originated in a Covered Country or came from recycled or scrap sources.
For the Reporting Period, we used our sourcing and procurement data and internal inquiries to identify thirty-nine (39) direct suppliers who may have supplied us necessary Conflict Minerals during the Reporting Period. We contacted each of these suppliers and asked them to provide information on (1) any Conflict Minerals contained in each of the products manufactured for us by that supplier, and (2) the source of any Conflict Minerals, including smelter/refinery information and location of mines. Each supplier was asked to complete the most current Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (“CMRT”) developed by the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (the “CFSI”).
We received CMRT responses from thirty-eight (38) of our direct suppliers during the Reporting Period. Based upon a review of our products and the responses received to our RCOI, we have concluded that: (1) certain of our products contain Conflict Minerals that are necessary to the production or functionality of such products; and (2) we are unable to determine accurately whether the Conflict Minerals present in our products originate in the Covered Countries. Accordingly, in accordance with the Rules, we are required to file with the SEC a Form SD and a CMR as an exhibit thereto.
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We are several levels removed from the actual mining of any minerals, including Conflict Minerals. We do not make purchases of raw ore or unrefined Conflict Minerals, and we make no direct purchases of materials from third parties located in the Covered Countries. Because of our position in the supply chain, we designed our due diligence framework in conformity with, in all material respects, the most current criteria and five-step framework set forth in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, Third Edition, and related Supplements on Tin, Tantalum and Tungsten and on Gold (collectively, “OECD Guidance”), specifically as it relates to our position in the minerals supply chain as a “downstream” purchaser. In this regard, we must rely on our direct suppliers to provide information regarding the country of origin and chain of custody of any Conflict Minerals included in products covered by the Rules.
In conformity with the OECD Guidance, below is a description of the measures we performed for the Reporting Period to exercise due diligence on the source and chain of custody of the necessary Conflict Minerals contained in our products that we had reason to believe may have originated from the Covered Countries and may not have come from solely recycled or scrap sources.
OECD Step 1: Establish Strong Company Management Systems
OECD Step 2: Identify and Assess Risk in the Supply Chain
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OECD Step 3: Design and Implement a Strategy to Respond to Risk
OECD Step 4: Third-Party Audit of Smelter/Refiner’s Due Diligence Practices
OECD Step 5: Report Annually on Supply Chain Due Diligence
Based on the information obtained pursuant to the good faith RCOI and due diligence processes described above, for the Reporting Period, we lack sufficient information with respect to the Conflict Minerals to determine the country of origin of all of the Conflict Minerals we use to manufacture the our subject products and thus are unable to determine whether any of the Conflict Minerals originated in the Covered Countries and, if so, whether the Conflict Minerals were from recycled or scrap sources or financed conflict in the Covered Countries.
Our inability to reach specific and verifiable conclusions as to the products containing or utilizing Conflict Minerals, despite our efforts, primarily resulted from the following challenges or complicating factors.
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As a result, we have not been able to identify or verify all of the smelters from which our suppliers sourced the Conflict Minerals. For the Conflict Minerals which we were able to identify information about the smelter, we have noted that some of the smelters currently are on the conflict free smelters list published by the CFSI.
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Set forth below in Annex I is the list of the country locations of potential smelters and refiners as reported by our suppliers through our good faith RCOI and related due diligence. Despite our good faith, reasonable country of origin inquiries, we currently have not obtained sufficient information from all of our suppliers to determine the exact origin, name and location of the facilities used to process all of the necessary Conflict Minerals.
Despite the foregoing conclusion, we undertook and continue to undertake the due diligence measures and procedures to attempt to determine the applicable facilities and countries of origin for the necessary Conflict Minerals for the products, including making numerous follow up inquiries of the applicable suppliers who were nonresponsive and/or who indicated to us that they were still attempting to independently determine the smelter or source of the Conflict Minerals obtained by such suppliers.
We are committed to complying with the provisions of the Rules and Form SD and expect to continue our efforts to improve our conflict minerals program and related due diligence. Our supply chain management next steps may include, but are not limited to the following:
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Annex I
ANDORRA | ESTONIA | LITHUANIA | RWANDA | TURKEY |
AUSTRALIA | FRANCE | MALAYSIA | SAUDI ARABIA | U.A.E. |
AUSTRIA | GERMANY | MEXICO | SINGAPORE | U.S.A. |
BELGIUM | INDIA | MYANMAR | SOUTH AFRICA | UZBEKISTAN |
BOLIVIA | INDONESIA | NETHERLANDS | SPAIN | VIETNAM |
BRAZIL | ITALY | NEW ZEALAND | SWEDEN |
|
CANADA | JAPAN | PERU | SWITZERLAND |
|
CHILE | KAZAKHSTAN | PHILIPPINES | TAIWAN |
|
CHINA | KOREA, REP. OF | POLAND | THAILAND |
|
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