The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), in coordination with the Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG), has offered assistance to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago (GoRTT), primarily in the development, implementation and execution of a project to phase out mercury-added products (MAPs) in line with the Minamata Convention on mercury. This project is part of the third phase of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Multilateral Environmental Agreement Programme (ACP MEA III) and the EEB having received a UNEP grant will be assisting amongst others, a few countries in the Caribbean region to work on several mercury-related activities. For Trinidad and Tobago this project is natural progression following national participation in the Project “Development of Minamata Initial Assessments (MIA) in the Caribbean” that ended in 2019 which facilitated key studies such as national mercury inventory, institutional framework assessment as well as, contaminated sites assessment.
The key areas of interest that this project will be addressing are the development of a road map for phasing out MAPs; conducting a market study of mercury free alternative; assessment and focalizing of existing institutional capacity to support mercury-added product phase-out activities; development of a mercury-free product procurement strategy; development of plan for a single stream product management pilot project for the environmentally sound management of single stream(s) high mercury products (e.g. thermometers, thermostats); development of a National Implementation Plan for addressing mercury-added products.
The Ministry of Planning and Development being the focal point for this project is also the Chair to a multi-stakeholder project National Working Group (NWG) with members from governmental, non-governmental organizations and even private sector associations, that will be engaged throughout the project’s implementation, monitoring and evaluation phases.
On Thursday 23 September, 2021 the Inception Meeting for the “Phasing out of Mercury Added Products in Trinidad and Tobago” Project was held virtually, to mark the official kick-off of project activities. The project is expected to have a lifespan of 18-24 months culminating with a regional (Caribbean) information sharing session in 2023.
Although not yet party to the Minamata Convention, initiatives such as these are necessary for Trinidad and Tobago to address the many of the areas of concern identified and in defining a clearer path towards improved management of mercury.
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