Countries reject global mercury treaty

At the beginning of the meeting, which was held from 21 to 25 February, representatives from European countries promoted the idea of a treaty to ban the export of mercury completely. But the United States championed the development of voluntary partnerships to help countries improve their mercury management.
Its approach left environmental campaigners unimpressed. "The United States was proposing only soft measures that did not include concrete actions," says Elena Lymberidi of the non-governmental European Environmental Bureau.