EU Revision of the Mercury Regulation

On 14 July 2023, the European Commission adopted a proposal to revise the Mercury Regulation and thereby ban all remaining intentional uses of the metal.  The Commission proposal was adopted in parallel to a delegated act (Prohibition against the manufacture, import and export of eight additional mercury containing products), aligning the revision with decisions taken by the 4th Conference of Parties (COP4) of the Minamata Convention.

Mercury is a highly toxic chemical which poses significant hazards to both human health and the environment. Upon its release into the ecosystem, enters the food chain, primarily accumulating in fish. Exposure to elevated levels of mercury can lead to detrimental effects on the brain, lungs, kidneys, and the immune system.

The revised Mercury Regulations targets uses of mercury in a number of products in the EU some of which are listed below. These are consistent with the commitments in EU’s Zero Pollution Ambition.

• A total phase-out of the use of dental amalgam will be introduced from 1 January 2025 whereby human exposure and the environmental burden will be reduced.

• Manufacture and export of dental amalgam from the EU will be prohibited from 1 January 2025.

• Manufacture and export of six mercury containing lamps will be prohibited from 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2028 depending on the type of lamps.

The delegated act adopted under the Mercury Regulation incorporates decisions made at COP4 into EU law. It achieves this by introducing a prohibition on the manufacture, import, and export of the eight products containing mercury, including mercury-containing lamps, tire balancers/wheel weights, photographic film and paper, and mercury vacuum pumps.

The Minamata Convention entered into force on 16 August 2017, is the main international legal framework seeking to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury to air, water and land. Like the Mercury Regulation, it addresses the whole life cycle of mercury, from primary mercury mining to mercury waste disposal. The convention has been ratified by the EU and 143 countries, including all the EU member states.

The revised Mercury Regulation will now be subject to the approval of the European Parliament and the Council as part of the ordinary legislative procedure. The delegated act is transmitted to the European Parliament and the Council for their scrutiny.