The Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the “Minamata Convention on
Mercury” was held in Minamata and Kumamoto, Japan from 9th to 11th
October 2013.

Mongolia became the 92nd country to join the Minamata Convention on Mercury during the Conference on October 10th. The Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the “Minamata Convention on Mercury” was attended by over 1000 delegates from non-government and professional associations from 139 countries worldwide.

The Minamata Convention is designed to protect human health and the environment from mercury emissions in the atmosphere spreading to rivers and the ground through human activities.

Member states of the Minamata Convention agreed to ban all kinds of production, exports and imports of mercury-containing batteries, switches and relays, compact fluorescent bulbs of 30 watts or less, primary mining for mercury, mercury in artisan and small-scale gold mining, soaps and cosmetics, medical devices, dental fillings, vaccines and pesticides and find replacements for them by 2020.

For the 57 years since Minamata disease was officially recognized in Minamata city in Japan, its victims have continued to face the horrors of mercury poisoning.  The environmental pollution in Minamata  caused by industrial waste water containing methyl mercury between 1932-1968 became known throughout the world. Residents living in Minamata were accustomed to eating fish and shellfish had also suffered from Minamata Disease.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) reports over 200 thousand people have suffered with Minamata Disease during this period.

In Mongolia gold diggers commonly used mercury for mining since 1990. But the use of mercury in mining became out of control in late 2000 in Mongolia. The Mongolian Government issued a ban on the import of mercury and its use in November 2007. But the country still struggles to control the use of the severely toxic chemical substance.
The member states of the Minamata Convention further agreed to monitor mercury emissions from coal fired power plants, boilers and smelters.