New global agreement to address the global threat posed to human health and the environment by mercury
The European Commission welcomed the successful conclusion of the multilateral negotiations to tackle mercury. According to Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for Environment, the new Treaty will bring benefits to all populations around the world, including the citizens of the EU given the long distances that mercury can travel in the air.
The European Commission welcomed the successful conclusion of the multilateral negotiations to address the global threat posed to human health and the environment by mercury. The Commission highlighted that the Treaty covers all aspects of the mercury life cycle, from primary mining to waste disposal, including trade provisions, rules for artisanal and small scale gold mining, products containing mercury and mercury emissions to air. It also contains provisions allowing for the future development of the Mercury Treaty in order to provide for further targeted action to be taken. In December 2012, the European Food Safety Authority sets safe levels for possible presence of mercury in food.
The European Commissioner for Environment, Janez Potočnik, stressed that whilst the EU has an overarching strategy for controlling mercury at all stages of the mercury life-cycle, such controls are unfortunately lacking in many parts of the world. He also added that the new Treaty is a forceful driver towards a comprehensive mercury phase-out, and the EU is proud to see that many EU concepts and ideas have made its way into the text.
Mercury is a chemical with neurotoxic effects, widely used in industrial processes and in products like batteries or thermometers. Unintentional releases of mercury into the air contribute massively to the global mercury problem. Within the EU the substance is already strictly regulated. The diplomatic ceremony for the official signature of the Mercury Treaty will take place in October of this year in the Japanese town of Minamata, where one of the worst cases of mercury pollution occurred more than fifty years ago leading to severe health effects for the local population.