Global mercury treaty adopted at UN conference in Japan
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Tokyo - A global treaty was adopted on Thursday to help prevent mercury poisoning and pollution at an internationalconference organised by the UN Environment Programme in south-western Japan.
About 1,000 delegates from 140 countries adopted the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which will regulate the use and trade of mercury. The pact was named after a Japanese city where industrial emissions of the toxic substance made thousands of people ill in the 1950s and 1960s.
The treaty will take effect 90 days after ratification by 50 countries. It includes measures to curb health and environmental damage caused by mercury, "recognizing the substantial lessons of Minamata disease," the text said.//DPA
