Minamata Convention on Mercury

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Minamata Convention
Minamata Convention on Mercury
Minamata Convention Ratification Map.svg
TypeUnited Nations treaty
Signed10 October 2013;10 years ago (2013-10-10)
Location Kumamoto, Japan
Effective16 August 2017 (2017-08-16)
ConditionNinety days after the ratification by at least 50 states
Signatories128 [1]
Parties149 [1]
Depositary Secretary-General of the United Nations
LanguagesArabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
http://www.mercuryconvention.org/

The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds. The convention was a result of three years of meeting and negotiating, after which the text of the convention was approved by delegates representing close to 140 countries on 19 January 2013 in Geneva and adopted and signed later that year on 10 October 2013 at a diplomatic conference held in Kumamoto, Japan. The convention is named after the Japanese city Minamata. This naming is of symbolic importance as the city went through a devastating incident of mercury poisoning. It is expected that over the next few decades, this international agreement will enhance the reduction of mercury pollution from the targeted activities responsible for the major release of mercury to the immediate environment. [2]

Contents

The objective of the Minamata Convention is to protect the human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds. It contains, in support of this objective, provisions that relate to the entire life cycle of mercury, including controls and reductions across a range of products, processes and industries where mercury is used, released or emitted. The treaty also addresses the direct mining of mercury, its export and import, its safe storage and its disposal once as waste. Pinpointing populations at risk, boosting medical care and better training of health-care professionals in identifying and treating mercury-related effects will also result from implementing the convention.

The Minamata Convention provides controls over a myriad of products containing mercury, the manufacture, import and export of which will be altogether prohibited by 2020, [3] except where countries have requested an exemption for an initial 5-year period. [4] These products include certain types of batteries, compact fluorescent lamps, relays, soaps and cosmetics, thermometers, and blood pressure devices. Dental fillings which use mercury amalgam are also regulated under the convention, and their use must be phased down through a number of measures.

Background on mercury

Mercury is a naturally occurring element. It can be released to the environment from natural sources – such as weathering of mercury-containing rocks, forest fires, volcanic eruptions or geothermal activities – but also from human activities. An estimated 5500-8900 tons of mercury is currently emitted and re-emitted each year to the atmosphere, with much of the re-emitted mercury considered to be related to human activity, as are the direct releases.

Due to its unique properties, mercury has been used in various products and processes for hundreds of years. Currently, it is mostly utilised in industrial processes that produce chloride (PVC) production, and polyurethane elastomers. It is extensively used to extract gold from ore in artisanal and small-scale gold mining. It is contained in products such as some electrical switches (including thermostats), relays, measuring and control equipment, energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs, some types of batteries and dental amalgam. It is also used in laboratories, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, including in vaccines as a preservative, paints, and jewelry. Mercury is also released unintentionally from some industrial processes, such as coal-fired power and heat generation, cement production, mining and other metallurgic activities such as non-ferrous metals production, as well as from incineration of many types of waste. [5]

The single largest source of human-made mercury emissions is the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector, which is responsible for the release of as much as 1,000 tonnes of mercury to the atmosphere every year. [6]

History of the negotiations

Mercury and mercury compounds have long been known to be toxic to human health and the environment. Large-scale public health crises due to mercury poisoning, such as Minamata disease and Niigata Minamata disease, drew attention to the issue. In 1972, delegates to the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment witnessed Japanese junior high school student Shinobu Sakamoto, disabled as the result of methylmercury poisoning in utero. The United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment, previously UNEP) was established shortly thereafter. [7] UN Environment has been actively engaged in bringing the science of mercury poisoning to policy implementation. In 2001, the executive director of UN Environment was invited by its governing council to undertake a global assessment of mercury and its compounds, including the chemistry and health effects, sources, long-range transport, as well as prevention and control technologies relating to mercury.

In 2003, the governing council considered this assessment and found that there was sufficient evidence of significant global adverse impacts from mercury and its compounds to warrant further international action to reduce the risks to human health and the environment from their release to the environment. Governments were urged to adopt goals for the reduction of mercury emissions and releases and UN Environment initiated technical assistance and capacity-building activities to meet these goals.

A mercury programme to address the concerns posed by mercury was established and further strengthened by governments in 2005 and 2007 with the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership. In 2007, the governing council concluded that the options of enhanced voluntary measures and new or existing international legal instruments should be reviewed and assessed in order to make progress in addressing the mercury issue. In February 2009, the governing council of UNEP decided to develop a global legally binding instrument on mercury. [8]

International Pollutants Elimination Network at INC4 in Punta del Este, 2012 INC-Punta-del-Este.jpg
International Pollutants Elimination Network at INC4 in Punta del Este, 2012

An intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) was promptly established, through which countries negotiated and developed the text of the convention. Other stakeholders, including intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations also participated in the process and contributed through sharing of views, experience and technical expertise. [9] The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee was chaired by Fernando Lugris of Uruguay and supported by the Chemicals and Health Branch of UN Environment's Economy Division. The INC held five sessions to discuss and negotiate a global agreement on mercury:

On 19 January 2013, after negotiating late into the night, the negotiations concluded with close to 140 governments agreeing to the draft convention text. [20] The convention was adopted and opened for signature for one year on 10 October 2013, at a conference of plenipotentiaries (diplomatic conference) in Kumamoto, Japan, preceded by a preparatory meeting from 7–8 October 2013. [21] [22] [23] The European Union and 86 countries signed the convention on the first day it was opened for signature. [24] A further 5 countries signed the convention on the final day of the diplomatic conference, 11 October 2013. In total, the convention has 128 signatories.

Fernando Lugris, the Uruguayan chair delegate, proclaimed, "Today in the early hours of 19 January 2013 we have closed a chapter on a journey that has taken four years of often intense but ultimately successful negotiations and opened a new chapter towards a sustainable future. This has been done in the name of vulnerable populations everywhere and represents an opportunity for a healthier and more sustainable century for all peoples." [25]

Further to the adoption of the convention, the intergovernmental negotiating committee was mandated to meet during the interim period preceding the opening of the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the convention to facilitate its rapid entry into force and effective implementation upon entry into force. Two sessions of the INC were held:

Discussions covered a number of technical, financial as well as administrative and operational aspects.

The convention required to enter into force the deposit of fifty instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession by states or regional economic integration organizations. This fifty-ratification milestone was reached on 18 May 2017, hence the convention entered into force on 16 August 2017.

The first meeting of Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP1) took place from 24 to 29 September 2017 at the International Conference Center in Geneva.

The second meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP2) took place from 19 to 23 November 2018 at the International Conference Center in Geneva, Switzerland.

The third meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP3) took place from 25 to 29 November 2019 at the International Conference Center in Geneva, Switzerland. At its third meeting, the Conference of the Parties agreed on a number of action items to effectively implement the Minamata Convention.

After the convention entered into force, the Conference of the Parties took place yearly for the first three years. From now onward, next Conference of the Parties (COPs) will be convened in every two years.

The fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (https://www.mercuryconvention.org/en/meetings/cop4) (COP4) will take place in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia from 21 to 25 March 2022.

List of signatories and parties

As of February 2024, there are 128 signatories to the treaty and 148 parties. [1] [26]

ParticipantSignatureRatification, acceptance (A),

approval (AA), accession (a)

Flag of the Taliban.svg  Afghanistan 2 May 2017 (a)
Flag of Albania.svg  Albania 9 October 201426 May 2020
Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 30 November 2022 (a)
Flag of Angola.svg  Angola 11 October 2013
Flag of Antigua and Barbuda.svg  Antigua and Barbuda 23 September 2016 (a)
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 10 October 201325 September 2017
Flag of Armenia.svg  Armenia 10 October 201313 December 2017
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 10 October 20137 December 2021
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 10 October 201312 June 2017
Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas 12 February 2020 (a)
Flag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain 6 July 2021 (a)
Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh 10 October 201318 April 2023
Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus 23 September 2014
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 10 October 201326 February 2018
Flag of Belize.svg  Belize 12 June 2023 (a)
Flag of Benin.svg  Benin 10 October 20137 November 2016
Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia 10 October 201326 January 2016
Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana 3 June 2016 (a)
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 10 October 20138 August 2017
Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria 10 October 201318 May 2017
Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso 10 October 201310 April 2017
Flag of Burundi.svg  Burundi 14 February 201426 March 2021
Flag of Cambodia.svg  Cambodia 10 October 20138 April 2021
Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon 24 September 201410 March 2021
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 10 October 20137 April 2017
Flag of the Central African Republic.svg  Central African Republic 10 October 201331 March 2021
Flag of Chad.svg  Chad 25 September 201424 September 2015
Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 10 October 201327 August 2018
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 10 October 201331 August 2016 [27]
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 10 October 201326 August 2019
Flag of the Comoros.svg  Comoros 10 October 201323 July 2019
Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg  Congo, Republic of the 8 October 20146 August 2019
Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica 10 October 201319 January 2017
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Côte d'Ivoire 10 October 20131 October 2019
Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 24 September 201425 September 2017
Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 30 January 2018 (a)
Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus 24 September 201425 February 2020
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 10 October 201319 June 2017
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 10 October 201318 May 2017
Flag of Djibouti.svg  Djibouti 10 October 201323 September 2014
Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic 10 October 201320 March 2018
Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador 10 October 201329 July 2016
Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 20 June 2017 (a)
Flag of Equatorial Guinea.svg  Equatorial Guinea 24 December 2019 (a)
Flag of Eritrea.svg  Eritrea 7 February 2023 (a)
Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 21 June 2017 (a)
Flag of Eswatini.svg  Eswatini 21 September 2016 (a)
Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 10 October 2013
Flag of Europe.svg  European Union 10 October 201318 May 2017 (AA)
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 10 October 20131 June 2017 (A)
Flag of France.svg  France 10 October 201315 June 2017
Flag of Gabon.svg  Gabon 30 June 201424 September 2014 (A)
Flag of The Gambia.svg  Gambia 10 October 20137 November 2016
Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia 10 October 201317 July 2023
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 10 October 201315 September 2017
Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana 24 September 201423 March 2017
Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 10 October 201310 June 2020
Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 10 October 2013
Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea 25 November 201321 October 2014
Flag of Guinea-Bissau.svg  Guinea-Bissau 24 September 201422 October 2018
Flag of Guyana.svg  Guyana 10 October 201324 September 2014
Flag of Honduras.svg  Honduras 24 September 201422 March 2017
Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 10 October 201318 May 2017
Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 3 May 2018 (a)
Flag of India.svg  India 30 September 201418 June 2018
Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia 10 October 201322 September 2017
Flag of Iran.svg  Iran 10 October 201316 June 2017
Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq 10 October 201316 September 2021
Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 10 October 201318 March 2019
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 10 October 2013
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 10 October 20135 January 2021
Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 10 October 201319 July 2017
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 10 October 20132 February 2016 (A)
Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan 10 October 201312 November 2015
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 10 October 201322 September 2023
Flag of Kiribati.svg  Kiribati 28 July 2017 (a)
Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait 10 October 20133 December 2015
Flag of Laos.svg  Laos 21 September 2017 (a)
Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia 24 September 201420 June 2017
Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon 13 October 2017 (a)
Flag of Lesotho.svg  Lesotho 12 November 2014 (a)
Flag of Liberia.svg  Liberia 24 September 2014
Flag of Libya.svg  Libya 10 October 2013
Flag of Liechtenstein.svg  Liechtenstein 1 February 2017 (a)
Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania 10 October 201315 January 2018
Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 10 October 201321 September 2017
Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar 10 October 201313 May 2015
Flag of Malawi.svg  Malawi 10 October 201323 June 2023
Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 24 September 2014
Flag of Mali.svg  Mali 10 October 201327 May 2016
Flag of Malta.svg  Malta 8 October 201418 May 2017
Flag of the Marshall Islands.svg  Marshall Islands 29 January 2019 (a)
Flag of Mauritania.svg  Mauritania 11 October 201318 August 2015
Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius 10 October 201321 September 2017
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 10 October 201329 September 2015
Flag of Moldova.svg  Moldova 10 October 201320 June 2017
Flag of Monaco.svg  Monaco 24 September 201424 September 2014
Flag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia 10 October 201328 September 2015
Flag of Montenegro.svg  Montenegro 24 September 201410 June 2019
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 6 June 2014
Flag of Mozambique.svg  Mozambique 10 October 201319 February 2024
Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia 6 September 2017 (a)
Flag of Nepal.svg    Nepal 10 October 2013
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 10 October 201318 May 2017 (A)
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 10 October 2013
Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua 10 October 201329 October 2014
Flag of Niger.svg  Niger 10 October 20139 June 2017
Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 10 October 20131 February 2018
Flag of North Macedonia.svg  North Macedonia 25 July 201412 March 2020
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 10 October 201312 May 2017
Flag of Oman.svg  Oman 23 June 2020 (a)
Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 10 October 201316 December 2020
Flag of Palau.svg  Palau 9 October 201421 June 2017
Flag of Palestine.svg  Palestine 18 March 2019 (a)
Flag of Panama.svg  Panama 10 October 201329 September 2015
Flag of Paraguay.svg  Paraguay 10 February 201426 June 2018
Flag of Peru.svg  Peru 10 October 201321 January 2016
Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines 10 October 20138 July 2020
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 24 September 201430 September 2021
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 28 August 2018 (a)
Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar 4 November 2020 (a)
Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 10 October 201318 May 2017
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 24 September 2014
Flag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda 29 June 2017 (a)
Flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis.svg  Saint Kitts and Nevis 24 May 2017 (a)
Flag of Saint Lucia.svg  Saint Lucia 23 January 2019 (a)
Flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.svg  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 18 August 2023 (a)
Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 10 October 201324 September 2015
Flag of Sao Tome and Principe.svg  Sao Tome and Principe 30 August 2018 (a)
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia 27 February 2019 (a)
Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 11 October 20133 March 2016
Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia 9 October 2014
Flag of Seychelles.svg  Seychelles 27 May 201413 January 2015
Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone 12 August 20141 November 2016
Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 10 October 201322 September 2017
Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia 10 October 201331 May 2017
Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 10 October 201323 June 2017
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 10 October 201329 April 2019
Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 24 September 201422 November 2019
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 10 October 201313 December 2021
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka 8 October 201419 June 2017
Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan 24 September 2014
Flag of Suriname.svg  Suriname 2 August 2018 (a)
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 10 October 201318 May 2017
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland 10 October 201325 May 2016
Flag of Syria.svg  Syria 24 September 201426 July 2017
Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania 10 October 20135 October 2020
Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 22 June 2017 (a)
Flag of Togo.svg  Togo 10 October 20133 February 2017
Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga 22 October 2018 (a)
Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 10 October 2013
Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 24 September 20144 October 2022
Flag of Tuvalu.svg  Tuvalu 7 June 2019 (a)
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 10 October 20131 March 2019
Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 18 August 2023 (a)
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 10 October 201327 April 2015
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 10 October 201323 March 2018
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 6 November 20136 November 2013 (A)
Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 10 October 201324 September 2014
Flag of Vanuatu.svg  Vanuatu 16 October 2018 (a)
Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 10 October 2013
Flag of Vietnam.svg  Vietnam 11 October 201323 June 2017 (AA)
Flag of Yemen.svg  Yemen 21 March 2014
Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia 10 October 201311 March 2016
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 11 October 201319 August 2021 [28]

Provisions

The convention has 35 articles, 5 annexes and a preamble.

The preamble of the convention states that the parties have recognized that mercury is, "a chemical of global concern owing to its long-range atmospheric transport, its persistence in the environment once anthropogenically introduced, its ability to bioaccumulate in ecosystems and its significant negative effects on human health and the environment." [29]

Article 1

Article 2

Article 3

Article 4

Article 5

Article 6

Article 7

Article 8

Article 9

Article 10

Article 11

Article 12

Article 13

Article 14

Article 15

Article 16

Article 17

Article 18

Article 19

Article 20

Article 21

Article 22

Article 23

Article 24

Article 25

Article 26

Article 27

Article 28

Article 29

Article 30

Article 31

Article 32

Article 33

Article 34

Article 35

Minamata Convention on Mercury COPs

See also

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