MERCURY MANAGEMENT: ITALY NOW FAVORS A BINDING INSTRUMENT

UNCLAS ROME 000843

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR OES/ENV - Hodayah Finman

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV AORC EAGR ETRD UNEP IT
SUBJECT: MERCURY MANAGEMENT: ITALY NOW FAVORS A BINDING INSTRUMENT

REF: STATE 63943



1. Summary. On June 17, Post delivered reftel questions to Ms.
Giuliana Gasparrini of the Environment Ministry (MOE) Directorate
for Environmental Research and Development. Gasparrini heads the V
Division, which deals with European Union (EU) and United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) coordination and
environmental research. On June 26, Mr. Marco Strincone of
Gasparrini's staff sent a written reply. In summary, Italy appears
to have adopted the EU position, and moved from support for a
voluntary approach to support for a legally-binding instrument to
solve mercury pollution problems, coupled with voluntary approaches,
with operational details to be decided. End of summary.


2. According to the MOE's Strincone, the Italian Government (GOI)
position - in accordance with that of the EU - is now in favor of
both a legally-binding instrument and the United Nations Environment
Program (UNEP) voluntary program. He states that, "given the
complexity of the issue, a voluntary-only approach seems
insufficient to deal with mercury pollution, which requires
interventions at various levels." According to Strincone, previous
informal discussions have underscored that the only partnership in
UNEP's mercury program which is currently active is the UNEP-Global
Partnership for Mercury Air Transport and Fate Research (UNEP-MFTP),
in which both the GOI and the USG are involved. The other
partnerships, he commented, have not produced the desired results.


3. Regarding a legally-binding instrument, the GOI - and the EU -
still must decide if they want to include a mercury protocol in the
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) or if
they prefer a stand-alone instrument, which - Strincone added -
"appears to have more advantages." In any case, the EU wants to
create an instrument which does not overlap with already existing
instruments (such as the Basel and Rotterdam Conventions),but
supplements them, in order to make the most efficient use of
resources and coordinate international efforts on chemicals and
waste issues. Strincone noted that this would be in line with the
results of the UNEP Ad Hoc Joint Working Group on strengthening
cooperation and coordination between the different international
instruments covering these areas.


4. Regarding timing for deciding a common EU position on the
specifics of a mercury management proposal, Strincone said that "the
EU will likely decide its priority areas and types of measures by
September." He added that the MOE does not have any information on
GOI or EU preferences for these specifics at this time.

Spogli