European Commission publishes mercury proposal

The EU signed the Minamata Convention on Mercury in October 2013 and thereby committed to ensure its ratification and implementation across the Union. The Commission adopted on 2 February 2016 a ratification package that will allow the EU to ratify the Convention once the legislative process is concluded.
 
The Regulation will amend current EU legislation by:

• repealing Regulation (EC) 1102/2008, while maintaining its substantive provisions that ban mercury exports and regulate waste mercury disposal;
• prohibiting within the EU any future new uses of mercury in products and industry, unless significant environmental and health benefits are demonstrated and there are no mercury-free alternatives;
• addressing the issue of dental amalgam, by restricting its use to the encapsulated form and by demanding the use of separators by dentists;
• bringing certain additional adjustments to current EU law, necessary to allow  the EU  to ratify the Convention;
• simplifying certain EU law provisions on mercury.

 
The Commission Decision on Minamata Convention also highlights the above provisions. Here are phase-out date of part mercury-added products.
 

Mercury-added products	Date after which the manufacture, import or export of the product shall not be allowed (phase-out date)
Batteries, except for button zinc silver oxide batteries with a mercury content < 2% and button zinc air batteries with a mercury content < 2%	2020
Switches and relays, except very high accuracy capacitance and loss measurement bridges and high frequency radio frequency switches and relays in monitoring and control instruments with a maximum mercury content of 20 mg per bridge, switch or relay	2020
Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) for general lighting purposes that are ≤ 30 watts with a mercury content exceeding 5 mg per lamp burneLinear fluorescent lamps (LFLs) for general lighting purposes: a) Triband phosphor < 60 watts with a mercury content exceeding 5 mg per lamp; b) Halophosphate phosphor ≤ 40 watts with a mercury content exceeding 10 mg per lamp	2020
High pressure mercury vapour lamps (HPMV) for general lighting purposes	2020
Mercury in cold cathode fluorescent lamps and external electrode fluorescent lamps (CCFL and EEFL) for electronic displays: a) short length (≤ 500 mm) with mercury content exceeding 3.5 mg per lamp b) medium length (> 500 mm and ≤ 1 500 mm) with mercury content exceeding 5 mg per lamp c) long length (> 1 500 mm) with mercury content exceeding 13 mg per lamp	2020
Cosmetics (with mercury content above 1ppm), including skin lightening soaps and creams, and not including eye area cosmetics where mercury is used as a preservative and no effective and safe substitute preservatives are available:	2020
Pesticides, biocides and topical antiseptics	2020
The following non-electronic measuring devices except non-electronic measuring devices installed in large-scale equipment or those used for high precision measurement, where no suitable mercury-free alternative is available: a) barometers; b) hygrometers; c) manometers; d) thermometers; e) sphygmomanometers.	2020

 
This proposal shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union once it is adopted and apply on 1 January 2018.
 
【中文版】

Further information
Proposal for regulation on mercury
Proposal for council decision on Minamata Convention on mercury