On Thursday, 11 January, members of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) will vote on the European Commission’s proposal to further restrict the use and trade of mercury, a heavy metal that is highly toxic to [human] health and the environment.
The compromise amendments to the draft report by Marlene Mortler (EPP, German) support the aim of the delegated regulation proposed last July to amend Regulation (EU) 2017/852 with regard to restrictions on the manufacture, import, and export of dental amalgam and six categories of mercury-added lamps that are currently exempt (see EUROPE 13223/19).
Nevertheless, they are recommending longer transition periods for the amalgam ban planned for the entire population while maintaining, as the European Commission has proposed, the possibility of using dental amalgam for patients with specific medical needs.
Thus, the text that will be put to a vote notably pushes the date for prohibiting dental amalgam—which is still widely used in certain Member States—from being manufactured in the European Union and from being exported back to 1 January 2030 instead of 1 January 2025.
According to the rapporteur, such a transition would give doctors time to go through the necessary training and would enable national health insurance systems to adapt their reimbursement policies accordingly.
The draft report will also stress that crematoria will continue to release mercury [into the environment]. As a result, the European Commission will be asked to submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on the reduction of mercury emissions and releases from crematoria and, where appropriate, draw up guidelines on technologies to reduce these emissions, taking existing guidelines into account, by 31 December 2025 at the latest.
See the compromise amendments: https://aeur.eu/f/aav (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)