Minamata

The Minamata treaty on mercury aims to protect human health and the environment against anthropogenic emissions of mercury and mercury compounds. With anthropogenic emissions is meant emissions caused by human actions.

The Minamata treaty is so named in honor of the victims of the great mercury poisoning in the 60s in the Minamata Bay in Japan.

The treaty entered into force for Suriname on October 31, 2018. Since then we have been bound by the obligations under the treaty.

Since 2013, with the NIMOS in the lead, several activities have been developed to prepare the Surinamese state and all stakeholders for the implementation of the treaty at national level.

Some concrete activities that have already taken place are:

• in 2013, NIMOS launched a legal and institutional analysis of the current situation with regard to the use of mercury and the role of the various actors. This analysis has been carried out in response to the Minamata Convention and has led to a Roadmap in which the actions that Suriname must carry out are specified. The analysis was done with the help of relevant stakeholders such as OGS, Ministry of Natural Resources, academics and the mining sector; download the Advise Document here >>
• in 2016 and 2017, NIMOS as the executive body, the Minamata Initial Assessment project (MIA project) and the National Action Plan for the ASGM in Suriname (NAP project) were started. These projects are currently at different stages of implementation. The second “Mercury Inventory” was presented to stakeholders on 31 July 2018. With this Inventory, targeted policies can now be formulated for tackling the use of mercury in the various sectors identified; download the Kwik Inventory here >>
• The bill of Suriname’s accession to the treaty was approved by the Council of Ministers on 30 May 2016, after which it was also approved by the National Assembly on 8 March 2018. In this process, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Coordination of the President’s Office plays an essential role; and
• in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources, NIMOS and UNDP, preparations are being made for the start of a seven-year project called “Improving Environmental Management in the Mining Sector of Suriname, with Emphasis on Gold Mining”. One of the aims of this project is to introduce mercury-free gold mining methods in small-scale mining in Suriname. The project is now called EMSAGS for short. Download the Project Document here >>
• Go to the EMSAGS >> page

In addition to the instruments of accession, Suriname has submitted some underlying documents that can be found on the website of the treaty: www.mercuryconvention.org. These include information about the steps that Suriname will take to implement the treaty and a notification under Art. 7 paragraph 3, that Suriname has an ASGM sector that is not insignificant (more than insignificant). Download the documents here >>

3 short fact sheets were made about the Minamata Convention and Suriname.

Download the fact sheets here:
The Minamata Convention >>
The Minamata Convention and mercury use in Gold Mining >>
Suriname’s Preparation for the Minamata Convention >>