Botswana and Burkina Faso have submitted a proposal on behalf of the African Region that the phase out of dental amalgam by 2030 should be considered at the next COP of the Minamata Convention in November.

The Africa region proposes to include in Part I, Annex A dental amalgam as mercury-added product as follows:

By 2030 the manufacture, import or export of Dental Amalgam should not be allowed

The Africa region further proposes to add the following text below the two existing mandatory requirements in Part II of the Annex A as follows:

In addition, Parties shall:

(iii) Submit to the Secretariat a national plan concerning the measures it intends to implement to phase out the use of dental amalgam
(iv) Exclude or not allow, by taking measures as appropriate, the use of dental amalgam in government insurance policies and programmes

For the last Conference in Bali in 2022 (COP4), the African region had already proposed to phase out the use of dental amalgam by 2029 in four steps. At the COP the parties however only agreed on the first two mandatory measures, which must be implemented by September 28, 2023.

In addition, Parties shall:

(i) Exclude or not allow, by taking measures as appropriate, the use of mercury in bulk form by dental practitioners;
(ii) Exclude or not allow, by taking measures as appropriate, or recommend against the use of dental amalgam for the dental treatment of deciduous teeth, of patients under 15 years and of pregnant and breastfeeding women, except when considered necessary by the dental practitioner based on the needs of the patient.

Here is the African Proposal for COP5: