Press Releases
Holding of a Preparatory Meeting and a Diplomatic Conference on the Minamata Convention on Mercury
September 9, 2013
1. A Diplomatic Conference and a Preparatory Meeting on the Minamata Convention on Mercury will be held from October 7 to 11 in Kumamoto City and Minamata City, Kumamoto Prefecture. The Minamata Convention is scheduled to be adopted and signed at the Conference.
2. This Conference is organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and a large number of participants are expected to attend from various countries and international organizations, etc, including cabinet-level officials. A government delegation consisting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of the Environment will attend from Japan, the host country.
3. The Minamata Convention is the first convention to set out comprehensive regulations in order to reduce the risks that mercury poses to health health and the environment. Its scope ranges from prohibiting the primary mercury mining through to regulations on trade, mercury-added products and manufacturing processes, emission to atmosphere and mercury waste. In light of the experiences of Minamata Disease Japan has actively contributed to the negotiations thus far, based on the standpoint that measures to control mercury pollution should be strengthened worldwide.
2. This Conference is organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and a large number of participants are expected to attend from various countries and international organizations, etc, including cabinet-level officials. A government delegation consisting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of the Environment will attend from Japan, the host country.
3. The Minamata Convention is the first convention to set out comprehensive regulations in order to reduce the risks that mercury poses to health health and the environment. Its scope ranges from prohibiting the primary mercury mining through to regulations on trade, mercury-added products and manufacturing processes, emission to atmosphere and mercury waste. In light of the experiences of Minamata Disease Japan has actively contributed to the negotiations thus far, based on the standpoint that measures to control mercury pollution should be strengthened worldwide.
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(* The foregoing is a provisional translation. The date indicated above denotes the date of issue of the original press release in Japanese.)