Delegates from about 130 countries will gather Wednesday in the Kumamoto Prefecture cities of Minamata and Kumamoto for a three-day meeting to finalize a new international treaty seeking to ban or greatly limit the use of mercury.
But critics say the treaty contains too many loopholes for it to be effective, and many people victimized by Minamata disease take exception to the treaty's name, posing a political headache for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government.
The treaty — the Minamata Convention on Mercury — aims to ban primary mercury mining, including the operation of new mines, and greatly limit the manufacture, import and export of mercury-added products. It also seeks to ban the use of mercury in most manufacturing processes, and to control its emissions.
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