5th December 2025. The EU Mercury Regulation (2024/1849) to phase out dental amalgam by January 2025 has been incorporated into the EEA Agreement, bringing dental amalgam use in Iceland under regulation. The phase-out timelines have been adopted as-is, with exemptions granted only for import and export. The decision still requires confirmation by the Icelandic parliament, but is expected to be a formality. The EEA agreement also applies to Liechtenstein and Norway, where the use of dental amalgam is already banned.
Iceland had already banned the use of amalgam for children up to the age of 15, pregnant and breastfeeding women since July 2019 and no longer reimbursed it through the revised public health programs in 2024. With the full phase out, Iceland is now becoming the 67th country that ends the use of dental amalgam.
Only the double standard in the EEA Agreement casts a shadow over the EU regulation as an exception for the export of amalgam has been included, apparently for the interest of the Liechtenstein based manufacturer Ivoclar Vivadent which is still distributing dental amalgam in the US.
In response to repeated requests from civil society, it was finally confirmed (by email on 11 December 2025) that Ivoclar’s amalgam production ceased in October 2025 and that the distribution will fade out by the first quarter 2027.
Further Information:
EEA Agreement with the revised Annex XX by 05.12.2025
https://www.efta.int/about-efta/legal-documents/eea-legal-texts/annexes-agreement
Joint committee decision 249/2025
https://www.efta.int/eea-lex/32024r1849