Environmental groups welcome EU Parliament vote for export ban and temporary storage of surplus mercury

Environmental and health organisations have welcomed the European Parliament’s plenary vote on a proposed regulation to ban mercury exports from the EU and ensure surplus mercury is stored out of harm’s way.

Environmental and health organisations have welcomed the European Parliament's plenary vote on a proposed regulation to ban mercury exports from the EU and ensure surplus mercury is stored out of harm's way.

The Parliament endorsed holding excess mercury securely in constantly-monitored storage sites, until technical advances allow the safe and permanent disposal of the noxious substance. It also supports preventing the export of certain mercury compounds and goods containing the toxic metal which are already banned from sale in the EU.  Parliament also voted to strengthen protection of EU citizens by banning imports of metallic mercury and certain mercury compounds.

"They've clearly signalled that until further notice, liquid mercury storage can only be a temporary arrangement: there's no 'out of sight, out of mind' option," said Elena Lymberidi, EEB's 'Zero Mercury' campaign project Coordinator. "Now the Commission and Council must do the right thing, too." Parliament also advocated the 'polluter pays' principle, and recommended creating a fund to ensure money from mercury-related industries is available to pay for this process.

Although encouraged at progress towards a mercury export ban, NGOs would have preferred an earlier implementation date than December 2010, which prolongs the risk of mercury contamination worldwide over the next three years.

"Following this decision, we've got an excellent opportunity to stop the export of mercury-containing products to developing countries," said Lisette van Vliet of Health Care Without Harm Europe. "At present, we're restricting the trade of these products inside Europe, but effectively saying it's OK for poorer nations to suffer the consequences of their use. Ending these double standards would be a powerful demonstration that we're serious about phasing out mercury use anywhere on the planet."

The NGOs backed Parliament's demand that all stakeholders must exchange information. EU countries must regularly provide information on movements of mercury, and the chlor-alkali and other concerned industries must also give details. "We must start collecting this information as soon as possible. That will tell us how much mercury we're dealing with and where it's going," said Elena Lymberidi of EEB. 

The environmental and health groups are now calling on the European Commission, the Presidency and other EU leaders to follow Parliament's example before a potential agreement at the Environment Council on 28 June.

The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) is a federation of more then 140 environmental citizens’ organisations based in all EU Member States and most Accession Countries, as well as in a few neighbouring countries. These organisations range from local and national, to European and international. The aim of the EEB is to protect and improve the environment of Europe and to enable the citizens of Europe to play their part in achieving that goal.