Kyrgyzstan to turn into mercury dump site, if Minamata Convention is not adopted

The Parliament of Kyrgyzstan will submit the Minamata Convention for public discussion in the near future. Deputy of the Parliament Rada Tumanbaeva informed 24.kg news agency.
According to her, by joining the Minamata Convention, Kyrgyzstan will refuse to manufacture, export and import a number of mercury-containing products.
We do not have laws governing mercury-containing products. The Ministry of Economy is currently developing changes to the technical regulation, but it is necessary to do it before 2020, since the Minamata Convention will enter into force in many countries in the new year.
Rada Tumanbaeva
"A draft law on accession of Kyrgyzstan to the Minamata Convention on Mercury is being developed. If we do not have time to adopt the convention and relevant regulations, all mercury-containing goods will come to us. Our great neighbor, China, and our strategic partner, Russia, have already joined the convention," said Rada Tumanbaeva.
The MP noted that after the adoption of the convention Kyrgyzstan would receive grant assistance from the Global Environment Fund.
"Mercury mined once does not disappear and transforms from one state to another. This international agreement should regulate and control the development of mercury at every stage. We still do not have the opportunity to dispose mercury-containing products," the deputy said.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an interstate treaty aimed at protecting human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions of mercury and its compounds, which can lead to poisoning.