Ad hoc Open-Ended Working Group
The First Meeting of the Ad-Hoc-Open-Ended Working Group to
review and assess measures to address the global issue of mercury

The first meeting of the ad-hoc Open Ended Working Group to review and assess measures to address the global issue of mercury was held from November 12 to 16, 2007 at the UN ESCAP facilities in Bangkok, Thailand.

The meeting was attended by representatives of 91 Governments, one regional economic integration organization, seven intergovernmental organizations and 29 civil society organizations.  The working group considered what types of response measures and strategies were available, the feasibility and effectiveness of voluntary and legally binding approaches and the options for implementation.  The Working Group also discussed the framework in which the response measures might best be implemented, including the extent to which various kinds of legally binding and voluntary measures would be suitable. 

The Working Group agreed on a programme of intersessional work to be undertaken by the secretariat in order to further discussions at the Working Group’s second meeting; that work programme is set out in annex II to the report of the meeting. The secretariat calculated that the total cost of undertaking the activities listed in the work programme and of holding the second meeting of the Working Group would be $1,500,000.

Meeting documents in English and other language versions are available here.  The report of the meeting is available in English (see meeting document UNEP(DTIE)/Hg/OEWG.1/6), and other language versions.

Outcomes of the first meeting of the ad-hoc-Open-Ended Working Group