The Children's Amendment to protect Children from the harm of mercury containing fillings entered into force on 28 September 2023 and became mandatory for 133 Parties to the Minamata Convention. Only Opt-In Parties and Parties that notified the Secretariat on time were excluded from the direct implementation of the following Amendment:
Parties shall:
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.
Until today only 49% of the Parties of the Minamata Convention comply with this regulation, 10 Parties have not yet ratified the amendment and 45% (!) did not take any measure to protect Children, more than one year after it became law.
Here is the List:
69 Parties have phased out the use of dental amalgam for Children(under 15), pregnant and breastfeeding women by regulation, withdrawing dental amalgam form the public program, banning the import or declared that it's no longer used:
- Albania (Link to the Regulation)
- Armenia (Link to the Report)
- Bahrain (Link to the Report)
- Bangladesh (Link to the Report)
- Bolivia (Link to the Regulation)
- China (Link to the Regulation)
- Colombia (Link to the Regulation)
- Cuba (Link to the Regulation)
- Ecuador (Link to the Report)
- El Salvador (Link to the Report)
- European Union (27, Link to the Regulation)
- Gabon (Link to the Regulation)
- Georgia (Link to the Report)
- Guyana (Link to the Report)
- Iceland (Link to the Regulation)
- Indonesia (Link to the Regulation)
- Japan (Link to the Report)
- Kiribati (Link to the Report)
- Kuwait (Link to the Report)
- Liechtenstein (Link to the Report)
- Maldives (Link to the Report)
- Mauritius (Link to the Report)
- Moldova (Link to the Report)
- Mongolia (Link to the Report)
- Mozambique (Link to the Report)
- Norway (Link to the Report)
- Panama (Link to the Regulation)
- Paraguay (Link to the Report)
- Peru (Link to the Report)
- Philippines (Link to the Report)
- Qatar (Link to the Report)
- Saint Kitts and Nevis (Link to the Report)
- Saint Lucia (Link to the Report)
- Saudi Arabia (Link to the Report)
- Switzerland (Link to the Report)
- Tanzania (Link to the Regulation)
- Tuvalu (Link to the Report)
- Uganda (Link to the Regulation)
- United Arab Emirates (Link to the Report)
- United Kingdom (Link to the Regulation)
- Uruguay (Link to the Report)
- Vietnam (Link to the Report)
- Zambia (Link to the Report)
4 Parties recommend against the use of dental amalgam for Children(under 15), pregnant and breastfeeding Women:
- Australia (Link to the Document)
- Brazil (Link to the Document)
- Canada (Link to the Document)
- United States of Amerika (Link to the Document)
10 Opt-In Parties to the Convention agreed on taking measures to protect Children but have not yet ratified the amendment:
- Argentina
- India
- Iran
- Jamaica
- Malawi
- Namibia
- Thailand
- Türkiye
- Seychelles
- Suriname
67 Parties (!) have not taken mandatory measures to implement the Children's Amendment despite it became law by 28 September 2023:
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Belize
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- Comoros
- Congo
- Costa Rica
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Djibouti
- Dominican Republic
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Honduras
- Iraq
- Jordan
- Kenya
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Madagascar
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mexico
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Palestine
- Republic of Korea
- Rwanda
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Syrian Arab Republic
- Togo
- Tonga
- Ukraine
- Vanuatu
- Zimbabwe
The World Alliance for Mercury-free Dentistry is calling on parties to take action, to protect the most vulnerable population and to set up a national plan to generally phase out dental amalgam:
Further Information:
