The regional meeting of the Eastern European countries on the preparation of the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury was held in Yerevan, within the framework of which the Executive Secretary of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, Ms. Monika Stankevich, arrived in Armenia.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister of Environment Tigran Gabrielyan, legal advisor of the Ministry, National Coordinator of the UN Convention on Mercury (Minamata, 2013) Anahit Alexandryan, Director of the Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center Levon Azizyan, the Ministry and its subordinate NOCs. representatives, international partners.
Deputy Minister Tigran Gabrielyan gave a speech. First of all, the Deputy Minister thanked the Swiss government for providing financial support, as well as the Secretariat of the Convention for the successful work of preparing the documents and organizing the workshop.
"Armenia attaches importance to the implementation of the Minamata Convention, which prohibits the extraction of mercury, provides for the phase-out of mercury-containing products from circulation and their replacement with mercury-free alternatives, and also promotes the prevention of illegal circulation, taking into account the extremely dangerous properties of mercury. The Republic of Armenia ratified in 2017 Minamata Convention on Mercury and undertake a number of administrative, environmental and other obligations. In fulfillment of its obligations under the Convention, the Republic of Armenia adopted the "Mercury" Law and a number of legal acts derived from it.
In order to implement the Convention, the Republic of Armenia closely cooperates with the following international structures: the United Nations Environment Program, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the United Nations Training and Research Institute, the International Atomic Energy Agency, with which it has jointly implemented a number of projects." - Deputy Minister Tigran Gabrielyan noted.
Tigran Gabrielyan informed that currently, the International Atomic Energy Agency plans to provide an atomic adsorption device, through which researches of mercury and its compounds in soil, air, water and food will be carried out. However, the issues of mercury-containing waste disposal and processing have not yet been resolved in our country.
An important consideration for the effective management of chemicals and waste management is the need to develop a unified system of operations that covers all stages of the use of chemicals and waste, including their production, export, import, storage, transportation, allocation, use and disposal.
Ms. Monika Stankevich, executive secretary of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, and Anahit Alexandryan, legal advisor of the Ministry, national coordinator of the UN Convention on Mercury (Minamata, 2013), made speeches.
During the workshop, issues related to the COP5 agenda and work organization were discussed.