Considerations on COM(2023)542 - EU position at the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury as regards the adoption of a Decision to amend Annexes A and B to that Convention - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2023)542 - EU position at the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury as regards the ... |
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| document | COM(2023)542 |
| date | October 23, 2023 |
(2) Pursuant to Decision MC-1/1 on Rules of Procedure, adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Agreement (‘COP’) at its first meeting, the Parties to the Agreement (the ‘Parties’) should make every effort to reach agreement on all matters of substance by consensus.
(3) Pursuant to Articles 4(8) and 5(10) of the Agreement, the COP should, by 16 August 2022, review Annexes A and B to the Agreement, and may consider amendments to those Annexes, taking into account proposals submitted by the Parties pursuant to Articles 4(7) and 5(9) of the Agreement, information made available by the Secretariat of the Agreement pursuant to Articles 4(4) and 5(4) of the Agreement, and the availability of technically and economically feasible mercury-free alternatives taking account of associated environmental and human health risks and benefits.
(4) On 30 April 2021, the Union submitted to the Secretariat of the Agreement a proposal25 to amend Annexes A and B to the Agreement, in accordance with Articles 4(7) and 5(9) of that Agreement. The Union’s proposal to amend Annex A to the Agreement aimed to extend its scope of application to additional mercury-added products with associated phase-out dates or mercury-regulating measures. The Union’s proposal to amend Annex B to the Agreement aimed to introduce a phase-out date for the production of polyurethane using mercury-containing catalyst.
(5) At the second segment of its fourth meeting, the COP decided in its Decision MC-4/326 to include eight new mercury-added products in its Annex A (Part I).
(6) However, for four mercury-added products no agreement was reached on phase-out dates. Decision MC-4/3 deferred the decision on those phase-out dates to the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (31 October to 3 November).
(7) Decision MC-4/3 also deferred the decision on adding the production of polyurethane using mercury-containing catalysts to Part I of Annex B to the fifth meeting of the COP.
(8) A new proposal for amending Annex A to the Agreement has been submitted by the Africa Region in accordance with Article 4(7) of the Agreement. The proposal concerns cosmetics, dental amalgam, and mercury-containing lamps and proposes new text for Parts I and II to Annex A.
(9) The Union should support amendments to Annexes A and B to the Agreement in so far as they would be consistent with the Union’s submission27, with the Union acquis or with EU policy.
(10) To the extent that they are referred to in the submission by the Africa Region, the Union should support amendments to Annex A to the Agreement in so far as they cover lamps, cosmetics and dental amalgam.
(11) At the fifth meeting of the COP, the Parties will consider the adoption of a Decision to amend Annex A to the Agreement.
(12) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken, on behalf of the Union, at the fifth meeting of the COP, as the proposed Decision, if adopted, will have legal effects, since the Parties will have to take measures to implement it at national or regional levels, or both.