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Review of annexes A and B

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Table of Contents

  1. Preamble
  2. Paragraph 1.
  4. Paragraph 3.
  5. Paragraph 4.
  6. Paragraph 5.
  7. Paragraph 6.
  8. Paragraph 7.
  9. Paragraph 8.
  10. Paragraph 9.
  11. Paragraph 10.
  12. Paragraph 11.

Review of annexes A and B

The Conference of the Parties
1.Decides to establish an ad hoc group of experts with terms of reference as set out in the annex to the present decision;
2.Requests the secretariat to call for submissions from parties by 31 March 2020, including:
(a)Information on mercury-added products and on the availability, technical and economic feasibility, and environmental and health risks and benefits of non-mercury alternatives to mercury-added products, pursuant to paragraph 4 of article 4 of the Convention;
(b)Information on processes that use mercury or mercury compounds and on the availability, technical and economic feasibility and environmental and health risks and benefits of mercury-free alternatives to manufacturing processes in which mercury or mercury compounds are used, pursuant to paragraph 4 of article 5;
3.Also requests the secretariat to make the submissions received publicly available and to invite non-parties and others to provide, by 30 April 2020, further information on the uses of mercury and on non-mercury alternatives referred to in the submissions;
4.Further requests the secretariat to provide to the ad hoc group of experts a compilation of the submissions and information received pursuant to paragraphs 2 and 3 of the present decision and to convene a meeting of the group, by no later than 30 June 2020. The ad hoc group of experts is to prepare a document in which it will enrich and organize the information received for each use covered by the submissions from parties, taking into account further information available to the experts, and in which it will clearly identify the sources of its information;
5.Requests the secretariat to make available, by 31 August 2020, to the parties that submitted information pursuant to paragraph 2 of the present decision, the information received pursuant to paragraph 4 of the present decision;
6.Also requests the secretariat to invite those parties to submit any revised information by 30 November 2020;
7.Further requests the secretariat to make publicly available the submissions made by parties pursuant to paragraph 6 of the present decision, by 31 December 2020, in accordance with paragraph 4 of article 4 and paragraph 4 of article 5 of the Convention;
8.Requests the secretariat to prepare, by 30 April 2021, a report on the work of the ad hoc group of experts reflecting its activities, including all the information gathered from the group, parties and others, for presentation at the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
9.Requests parties that notified the secretariat at the time of their becoming a party to the Convention that they would implement various measures or strategies to address products listed in part I of annex A to the Convention to report, by 30 June 2020, on the measures or strategies they have implemented, including a quantification of the reductions achieved;
10.Requests the secretariat to compile the submissions made by parties pursuant to paragraph 9 of the present decision for consideration during the effectiveness evaluation with respect to article 4 of the Convention;
11.Also requests the secretariat to present the compilation of final submissions pursuant to paragraphs 7 and 9 of the present decision for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its fourth meeting.

Annex to decision MC-3/1

Terms of reference of the ad hoc group of experts

I. Mandate

1.The Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, at its third meeting, by decision MC-3/1, established an ad hoc group of experts to prepare a document in which it will enhance and organize the information for each use submitted by parties in accordance with decision MC-3/1, taking into account further information available to the experts. The document will clearly identify the sources of the information it contains.

II. Membership

2.The ad hoc group of experts, which at its first meeting will elect two co-chairs, will comprise experts nominated by parties from the five United Nations regions as follows: four from the African States, four from the Asia-Pacific States, four from the Eastern European States, four from the Latin American and Caribbean States and four from the Western European and other States. Before its first meeting, the group will invite 10 experts from non-parties and other stakeholders, including relevant organizations, possessing specialized technical knowledge relating to the recommended qualifications described in section III of the present terms of reference, to participate as observers. The ad hoc group of experts may also invite input from Governments, intergovernmental organizations, industry and civil society organizations to assist it in its work, as appropriate.

III. Recommended qualifications of members and observers

3.Members and observers of the ad hoc group of experts should have expertise in at least one of the following areas:
(a)Mercury-added products;
(b)Manufacturing processes in which mercury or mercury compounds are used;
(c)Availability and technical and economic feasibility of alternatives to mercury-added products or manufacturing processes in which mercury or mercury compounds are used;
(d)Environmental and health risks and benefits of alternatives to mercury-added products or manufacturing processes in which mercury or mercury compounds are used;
(e)Regulatory policy to address the human health and environmental risks of mercury.

IV. Officers

4.The ad hoc group of experts will elect two co-chairs to facilitate its meetings.

V. Secretariat

5.The secretariat of the Minamata Convention on Mercury will provide support to the ad hoc group of experts.

VI. Administrative and procedural matters

6.The rules of procedure of the Conference of the Parties will apply, mutatis mutandis, to the group.
7.The work of the ad hoc group of experts will be organized in such a way as to allow each expert to participate in all the activities of the group.

VII. Meetings

8.The ad hoc group of experts will meet face to face once during the intersessional period preceding the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention, subject to the availability of resources, and will also work by electronic means.

VIII. Language

9.The working language of the group will be English.