The European Union has imposed a ban on the purchase, import and transfer of gold originating from Sudan, a direct measure to sever a primary source of funding for the country’s warring factions. The EU Council also prohibited the sale and export to Sudan of mercury and cyanide, chemicals essential to artisanal gold extraction. The decision, announced on 14 July, came as G7 foreign ministers and the EU’s foreign policy chief issued a joint statement urging the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied armed groups to halt all attacks that could endanger civilians in the city of El-Obeid. The G7 also called on the UN Security Council to extend the existing Darfur arms embargo to the entire territory of Sudan and pressed external actors to cease military and financial support to both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

A report published the same week by the UN Human Rights Office examined how the trade in Sudanese commodities is fuelling what it described as an “increasingly self-perpetuating” conflict. The report focused on gum arabic, a natural emulsifier used in soft drinks, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, of which Sudan supplied 70 to 80 percent of global crude exports before the war. UN investigators found that the gum arabic value chain has been reshaped by territorial fragmentation: quantities from SAF-controlled areas are channelled toward Port Sudan for export, while significant volumes from RSF-held territory are smuggled through neighbouring states and re-exported as locally produced goods, making traceability extremely difficult. In May 2025, the RSF reportedly looted the Gum Arabic Exchange and its warehouses in El-Nuhud, West Kordofan, when stocks were full and ready for export, severely disrupting local livelihoods.

Viewed from European capitals, the gold ban targets a well-documented smuggling network. Most Sudanese gold is extracted from mines in Darfur and Kordofan, regions under RSF control, and is exported via Egypt, Chad and Libya to the United Arab Emirates, according to EU and UN assessments. The SAF controls smaller deposits in the north and east. The G7 statement, issued in Berlin, explicitly linked the call for an expanded arms embargo to the need to stem the flow of weapons that enables both sides to sustain military operations. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged states and corporations to conduct heightened, conflict-sensitive human rights due diligence, warning that “companies cannot continue business as usual when sourcing from conflict-affected value chains.”

The war, which erupted in April 2023, has killed an estimated 200,000 people and displaced more than 11 million, while pushing parts of the country into famine. The UN report notes that as the costs of military operations have grown, the warring parties have increasingly relied on the control and exploitation of territory, trade routes and commodities to generate revenue. The EU gold ban is now in force, and the G7 is expected to press for a Security Council vote on a nationwide arms embargo, though no date has been set. The UN Human Rights Office has called on all states linked to Sudanese commodity trade to strengthen accountability, traceability and regulatory oversight.