on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union at the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury as regards the adoption of a Decision on the phasing-out of dental amalgam and amending Annex A to this Convention

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.Subject matter of the proposal

This proposal concerns the decision establishing the position to be taken, on the Union's behalf, at the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury in connection with the envisaged adoption of a Decision on the phasing-out of dental amalgam and amending Annex A to that Convention.

2.Context of the proposal

2.1.The Minamata Convention on Mercury

The Minamata Convention on Mercury ('the Agreement’) is the main international legal framework aimed at protecting human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds to air, water and land.

It addresses the whole life-cycle of mercury, from primary mercury mining to mercury waste disposal, including the interim storage of mercury, mixtures of mercury with other substances, including alloys of mercury, with a mercury concentration of at least 95% per weight ('mercury mixtures'), and of six mercury compounds, including mercury (I) chloride, mercury (II) oxide, mercury (II) sulphate, mercury (II) nitrate, cinnabar and mercury sulphide, other than waste mercury. The Agreement entered into force on 16 August 2017. The European Union is a Party to the Agreement as well as most Member States.

2.2.The Conference of the Parties

The Conference of the Parties to the Agreement ('COP') performs the functions assigned to it by the Agreement and, to that end, shall consider and undertake inter alia any additional action that may be required for the achievement of the objectives of the Agreement, including the adoption of relevant guidelines.

According to Article 28 of the Agreement and Decision MC-1/1 on Rules of Procedures adopted by the COP at its first meeting (24-29 September 2017), each Party has one vote. However, the Union, as a regional economic integration organisation, exercises its right to vote, on matters within its competence, with a number of votes equal to the number of its Member States that are Parties to the Agreement. The Union shall not exercise its right to vote if any of its Member States exercises its right to vote, and vice versa.

2.3.The envisaged act of the Conference of the Parties

Based on information made available to Parties of the Agreement, the COP is expected to adopt on 25 November 2019, during its third meeting, a Decision regarding the phasing-out of dental amalgam and the amendment of Annex A to the Convention as a follow-up to a joined proposal made by six African countries which are Parties to the Agreement (Gabon, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Botswana, Senegal, Niger), in accordance with Articles 26 and 27 of the Agreement (‘the envisaged act’).

Part I of Annex A to the Agreement contains a list of mercury-added products (e.g. certain compact fluorescent lamps for general lighting purposes), the manufacturing, import and export of which is prohibited as from 2021, in accordance with Article 4(1) of this Agreement.

Part II of Annex A to the Agreement contains a list of nine measures on the phasing-down of the use of dental amalgam. In accordance with Article 4(1) and Part II Annex A to the Agreement, Parties must take at least two measures (e.g. to restrict the use of dental amalgam to its encapsulated form).

The objective of the envisaged act is to phase-out the use of dental amalgam. To do so, the envisaged act proposes to regulate the manufacture of and the international trade in dental amalgam in two steps. Firstly, it provides for the phasing-out, as from 2022, of the manufacture, import and export of dental amalgam when destined to be used for the treatment of deciduous teeth, as well as of teeth of children under the age of 15 and of pregnant and breastfeeding women. Secondly, it foresees to apply this prohibition as from 2025 to the manufacture, import and export of dental amalgam for all other uses, except where no mercury-free alternatives are available. In this respect, the envisaged act proposes to delete Part II of Annex A to the Agreement and to include dental amalgam in the list of mercury-added products referred to in Part I of Annex A to the Agreement.

3.Position to be taken on the Union's behalf

The proposed position to be taken on the Union's behalf is to support, at the third meeting of the COP, the adoption of a Decision that is consistent with the EU acquis.

Article 10(2) of Regulation 2017/852/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 on Mercury (‘Regulation 2017/852/EU’) prohibits, as from 1 July 2018, the use of dental amalgam in the EU for the treatment of deciduous teeth, as well as of the teeth of children under the age of 15 and of pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Article 19 of Regulation 2017/852/EU foresees inter alia that the Commission will report to the European Parliament and to the Council, by 30 June 2020, on the feasibility of a phase-out in the EU of the use of dental amalgam in the long term, and preferably by 2030, whilst taking into account the Member States’ national plans on the phasing down of the use of dental amalgam referred to in Article 10(3) and fully respecting their national competence for the organisation and delivery of health services and medical care. In light of this, the European Commission has launched in September 2018 an assessment on the feasibility of such a phasing-out in the EU by 2030. The study outcome will contain a technical assessment, including the analysis of above-mentioned national plans, which all Member States had to submit by 1 July 2019. This study will conclude in February 2020 and will inform the above-mentioned Commission’s report due by end June 2020.