Mercury Storage and Disposal Project in Two Selected Countries in Central America - Inception workshop

The meeting was aimed at gaining a better understanding and role clarification on the mercury storage and disposal project objectives, design, outputs and outcome. The project aims to promote the environmentally sound storage and disposal of surplus mercury in Mexico and in Panama. The main outcome of the project is a national action plan on mercury storage and disposal in Mexico and Panama.

Like its predecessor, this project was funded by the government of Norway's Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). It has been implemented in collaboration with the UNEP Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNEP/ROLAC) and the Stockholm Convention Regional Centres in Mexico (CENICA/INE) and Panama (CIIMET, in alliance with YMCA-Panama). Aiming to provide a better understanding of mercury storage and disposal issues at country level and to promote the environmentally sound management of excess or surplus mercury, it constitutes another milestone in the overarching ‘UNEP Mercury Storage Project’,

The LAC region is likely to soon face a significant excess of mercury. The surplus must be managed and stored properly. The environmentally sound management of mercury requires adequate expertise, infrastructure, technical standards and institutional capacity.

The concept note and draft agenda are available in English and Spanish .

The workshop provided the participants with a better understanding of the project objectives, design, outputs and expected outcomes. Among others, the national mercury related activities and inventories were presented by Panama (English/Spanish) and Mexico (English/Spanish). Tools previously developed by UNEP were presented. These will be used by Panama and Mexico to:

• investigate facilities and options for the temporary storage of mercury, and to
• review the relevant regulatory frameworks.

Further important activities included the following:

• Establishing decision-making processes (stakeholder identification and role clarification; strengthening of national interagency coordinating bodies)
• Assessing basic management options (global and national management options; technology review; defining site pre-selection criteria)

Countries were also advised on how to draft a national mercury storage and disposal action plan, which will hopefully guide their efforts towards the effective and economically viable long term storage of mercury.

Listed below are further useful and interesting presentations that were given during the workshop:

• UNEP, the Global Partnerships, the Negotiation Process and key facts about the management of mercury (English)
• Análisis de opciones y estudio de factibilidad para el almacenamiento seguro de mercurio a largo plazo en LAC (Spanish)
• Introducción a los términos relevantes para la discusión sobre almacenamiento y disposición de mercurio (Spanish)
• Formato del reporte de país (Spanish)

The final report of the inception workshop is available in English and in Spanish. 

Results Workshop