Brussels, 03/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - A step was taken on Tuesday 2 February towards ratification by the EU of the Minamata Convention, a UN treaty that seeks to protect public health and the environment from mercury, a toxic heavy metal.
On Tuesday, the European Commission presented the ratification package on this international convention that was signed by the EU in October 2013. Most of the provisions already form part of European law.
The package comprises a regulation repealing and replacing Regulation 1102/2008 on the banning of exports of metallic mercury and certain mercury compounds and mixtures and the safe storage of metallic mercury in order to update EU law and a proposal for a Council decision on ratification of the Convention on behalf of the EU. An impact assessment will accompany the package.
The proposed new regulation will maintain the provisions banning the export of mercury and regulating waste mercury disposal. It will prohibit any future new uses of mercury in products and industry unless significant health and environmental benefits can be demonstrated and there are no mercury-free alternatives. It will, in addition, restrict the use of mercury in dental amalgams and ban the import of metallic mercury from countries that are not party to the Convention. These are the main innovations.
The Convention will come into force three months after it has been ratified by 50 parties. Ratification by the EU and its member states, it is hoped, will see the Convention come into effect at some time in 2017.
Mercury is to be found in the plastics industry, dental amalgams and emissions from coal-fired power stations. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)