Governments as well as representatives from IGOs and NGOs are gathering to make final preparations for the entry into force of the Minamata Convention on Mercury and the first meeting of its Conference of Parties.

The seventh session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Mercury (INC7) is being from 10-15 March at the Dead Sea in Jordan.

Countries are reviewing progress made and further steps needed for the Convention to enter into force once it has 50 ratifications. Regional consultations to prepare for the negotiations at INC7 meanwhile took place on 9 March.

The global treaty was adopted in Kumamoto, Japan in 2013 with the objective to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury - a heavy metal the World Health Organisation considers to be among the top ten chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public concern.

More than 127 governments and the EU have signed up to the Convention and 23 future parties have ratified it. The convention includes a ban on new mercury mines, the phase-out of existing ones, control measures on air emissions and the international regulation of the informal sector for artisanal and small-scale gold mining.

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