ARGENTINA'S PROGRESS ON MERCURY PARTNERSHIPS

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001826 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR OES/ENV ANGELA BEDNAREK E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV TSPL ETRD AR SUBJECT: ARGENTINA'S PROGRESS ON MERCURY PARTNERSHIPS REF: STATE 130753 ¶1. Reftel requested information concerning Argentina's participation in partnerships geared to reducing mercury contamination, with an eye to the February 2007 UNEP Governing Council meeting, where mercury will be an agenda item. The Embassy spoke on August 11 with Gonzalo Entenza of the MFA's Office of the Environment, who said that Argentina was aware of UNEP's request for a progress letter and plans to respond by the September 1 deadline. ¶2. Entenza briefly went over recent steps Argentina has taken against mercury contamination, which included hosting (in August 2006) what he termed "the first Latin American conference on the elimination of mercury in health care." That conference was jointly sponsored by the Pan American Health Organization, Health Care Without Harm (in association with UNEP),and Argentina's Ministry of Health and Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development. SIPDIS Argentina has also been actively participating in UNEP's international meetings on the subject, according to Entenza. MATERA