Minamata Convention on Mercury

The Minamata Convention entered into force on 16 August 2017. Nomura Kohsan will make a contribution to Minamata Convention by supporting of managing mercury waste. The Minamata Convention on Mercury aims to “protect the human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds.” ^*1

Mercury is the only metal element that is liquid at room temperature and is highly volatile. It is emitted into the atmosphere from various sources and circulates throughout the globe. Mercury continues to have a presence in our lives, as it is essential in certain uses and products. Moreover, as mercury is a chemical element, it cannot be destroyed. Hence, the Convention embodies the need for the strengthening of global mercury management. The following is a brief overview of the content:

Content		Article
Preamble	Recognizes the risks of mercury and the substantial lessons of Minamata Disease, and sets the background for the Convention
Objective/ Definitions	Objective: to protect human health and environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury	Article 1
Objective/ Definitions	Definitions: sets out the definitions of words used in the Convention	Article 2
Supply (production) and trade	Mercury supply sources	Article 3
Supply (production) and trade	International trade	Article 3
Mercury use	Mercury-added products	Article 4
	Manufacturing processes in which mercury or mercury compounds are used	Article 5
	Exemptions	Article 6
	Artisanal and small-scale gold mining	Article 7
Emissions and releases	Emissions	Article 8
Emissions and releases	Releases	Article 9
Interim storage, waste, contaminated sites	Environmentally sound interim storage of mercury, other than waste mercury	Article 10
	Mercury wastes	Article 11
	Contaminated sites	Article 12
Financial resources and technology assistance	Financial resources and mechanism	Article 13
Financial resources and technology assistance	Capacity-building, technical assistance and technology transfer	Article 14
Information exchange and research	Health aspects, information exchange, public information, awareness and education, research, development and monitoring, implementation plans, reporting, effectiveness evaluation	Articles 16-22

For the full text of the Convention, see:
https://www.mercuryconvention.org/en/documents/minamata-convention-mercury-text-and-annexes

*1 Article 1 of the Minamata Convention on Mercury