Commission welcomes new global agreement to tackle mercury

EU News 21/2013

19 January 2013
IP/13/28
Brussels

Today 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. This follows the decision of the Governing Council of UNEP in February 2009 to develop a global legally binding instrument on mercury and the subsequent creation of an International Negotiating Committee to conclude on the text of a mercury Treaty that held its final meeting this week. The EU was a key driver for the launch of this negotiating process.

(…)

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.

Source and additional information: 
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-28_en.htm?locale=en

File Image. Trends in concentration of cadmium and mercury at river stations included in the EU Exchange of Information Decision. URL

• Tweet