Overview
The Minamata Convention is the global agreement that tackles mercury across its whole life, from mining and trade to the products and processes that use it. The EU turns those commitments into binding rules through the EU Mercury Regulation.
The Minamata Convention plays the same role for mercury that the Stockholm Convention plays for persistent organic pollutants. Each is the global treaty behind a matching piece of EU chemicals law.
What it covers
The Convention is named after Minamata, the Japanese city where mercury poisoning caused severe harm in the mid twentieth century. The Convention responds by acting on the full chain.
From treaty to EU law
International treaties do not bind companies directly. The chain runs from the Minamata Convention to the EU Mercury Regulation 2017/852, and from there to the restrictions that apply to mercury in your products and waste.
Note: general educational information, not legal advice. Check the official source before relying on it.