BRUSSELS, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - The European Union has banned all exports of mercury from the 27-nation bloc as of March 2011, as part of a strategy to prevent leaks of the toxic heavy metal into the environment.
The ban was agreed on by EU ministers at the Competitiveness Council on Thursday. After it comes into effect, mercury produced as a by-product of industrial processes will have to be put into safe storage.
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in a statement: "Let us hope that other countries will follow our example and support our goal of cutting the global supply of this dangerous substance."
The ban will apply to exports of metallic mercury, cinnabar ore, mercury chloride, mercury oxide and mixtures of metallic mercury with other substances, including alloys of mercury, with a mercury concentration of at least 95% by weight.
