The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has marked five years since the Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force.

UNEP, in a statement, said five years had passed since the Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force on August 16, 2017.

It stated that the convention protects human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury.

“Although the convention itself is young, it builds on a long history of scientific efforts to understand and manage the risk of mercury, a toxic substance. Mercury’s toxicity devastated the fishing villages in Minamata Bay, Japan, in the middle of the 20th century, and as a result, governments took action and adopted the convention in 2013, and it entered into force five years ago,’’ it said.

UNEP administers the agreement, which has 137 parties.

Its provisions include a ban on new mercury mines and the phase-out of mercury use in a number of products.

Nigeria is one of the countries that ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

(NAN)