The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued an order staying the effective date of the portion of its conflict minerals reporting requirement that a U.S. appeals court said would violate companies’ free-speech rights.

The SEC order released today rejects a motion by the National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable for a stay of the entire rule, the agency said in a statement.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on April 14 rebuffed claims by the industry groups that the SEC didn’t properly measure compliance costs and set overly rigorous due-diligence standards for identifying the presence of gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the same time, the court said a requirement that companies declare their products conflict-free would interfere with their rights under the First Amendment.

In guidance released last week, the SEC said companies should report the country where the metals were mined without using the language struck down by the court.

The conflict minerals case is National Association of Manufacturers v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 13-5252, U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia (Washington).