On 7 March, the Minamata Convention on Mercury will come into effect in Australia.
This Convention is an international treaty that seeks to protect human health and the environment from emissions or releases of mercury/mercury compounds and includes controls on:
• mercury mining
• the manufacture and trade of mercury and products containing mercury
• disposal of mercury waste
• emissions from industrial facilities.
In Victoria, implementation of several obligations of the Convention will be supported by EPA via the environment protection framework as set out in the Environment Protection Act 2017 and the Environment Protection Regulations 2021.
This includes the development of guidance epa.vic.gov.au/for-business/find-a-topic/minamata-convention-on-mercury for relevant industries and businesses to support compliance.
In most cases, duty holders can meet Convention requirements by complying with their existing duties and obligations.
