The fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC5) to prepare a treaty on mercury took place 13 - 18 January, 2013 in Switzerland and numerous representatives from IPEN Participating Organizations took part. This was the last negotiating committee meeting for the treaty, and it reached agreement on the text of the new treaty.
IPEN and Minamata survivor groups also asked delegates to name the treaty the “Mercury Convention”, instead of the proposed name, “Minamata Convention” – a reference to the site of the first well-‐ documented incident of large-‐scale mercury poisoning in a human population that occurred more than 50 years ago.
Geneva — The health of current and future generations depends on an international mercury treaty that will ensure substantial reductions in global mercury emissions, said IPEN, a coalition of non-governmental organizations representing 700 public-interest organizations in 116 countries.
Press release announcing joint mercury monitoring report from IPEN, a global network of public interest organizations, and the scientific research team of BRI.
Gorham, Maine — A new scientific report, Global Mercury Hotspots, finds that humans and marine ecosystems around the world are contaminated with mercury and that mercury levels in humans and fish regularly exceed health advisory guidelines.
Statement on Minamata and the Mercury Treaty from Ryukou Sakamoto, Director, Minamata Disease Citizen’s Group, and Hideki Sato, Director, Minamata Disease Victims’ Mutual Aid Society.
