Minamata Convention

The Minamata Convention on Mercury was adopted on 10 October 2013 in Kumamoto, Japan, and entered into force on 16 August 2017 after the 50th instrument of ratification was deposited. It is named after the Japanese city of Minamata, where, beginning in the 1950s, industrial discharge of methylmercury by the Chisso Corporation caused severe neurological poisoning in thousands of residents — an episode that became a defining case in environmental health.

The convention is administered through a Conference of the Parties (COP), with its secretariat based in Geneva and provided by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Negotiations were conducted by an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) between 2010 and 2013, mandated by UNEP Governing Council decision 25/5 (2009).

Core obligations on parties include:

• Phasing out primary mercury mining (with a 15-year limit from entry into force for each party).
• Banning the manufacture, import, and export of a list of mercury-added products (such as certain batteries, switches, cosmetics, and some thermometers) by 2020, with exemptions available.
• Controlling mercury use in manufacturing processes (e.g., chlor-alkali, vinyl chloride monomer production).
• Regulating artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), the largest single source of anthropogenic mercury emissions, through National Action Plans.
• Limiting atmospheric emissions from coal-fired power plants, industrial boilers, smelters, waste incineration, and cement clinker production.
• Addressing mercury-contaminated sites, storage, and waste management.

A phase-down — rather than outright ban — applies to dental amalgam, reflecting compromises during negotiation. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) and a dedicated Specific International Programme provide financial assistance to developing-country parties. As of the mid-2020s the convention has broad participation, including the EU, China, the United States (which accepted in 2013), India, and Japan. Review of effectiveness under Article 22 began at COP-4 (2022).