The Government will gazette the Mercury Control Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Notice 2025 on May 30 and table it before the Legislative Council on June 4 to include a number of mercury-added products newly regulated by international convention under the Mercury Control Ordinance (Cap. 640) (the Ordinance) to reduce the risk of the public's exposure to these mercury-added products, so as to safeguard public health and protect the environment.
 
     A spokesman for the Environment and Ecology Bureau said today (May 28) that the newly regulated mercury-added products will be listed in Schedule 3 to the Ordinance, including some electronic/electrical/lighting products and cosmetics. For details, please refer to the Annex. The amendments related to the first eight mercury-added products will take effect from December 31, 2025. The effective date(s) of the amendments related to the other eight mercury-added products will be announced separately after the relevant international convention becomes applicable to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
 
     In terms of enforcement, once the amendments to the Ordinance come into effect, the manufacture, import, export and supply of the relevant regulated mercury-added products will be prohibited. Anyone who contravenes the above regulations commits an offence and, upon conviction, is liable to a maximum fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for one year. The Government has set a grace period (until January 2029) for the supply of newly regulated mercury-added products to help the public adapt. After the specified deadline (i.e. after January 2029), if anyone continues to supply the relevant regulated mercury-added products, the authorities will initiate prosecution after collecting sufficient evidence and will also include the above implementation arrangements in the relevant guidelines.
 
     The spokesman said, "Bringing these mercury-added products under the regulation of the Ordinance can safeguard public health and protect the environment. It will at the same time enable the HKSAR to implement the amendments made to the Minamata Convention on Mercury to phase out mercury-added products."
 
     The Convention is an international convention aimed at protecting human health and the environment from the harmful effects caused by the anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds. At the fourth and fifth meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention in 2022 and 2023, the Parties agreed to phase out 16 mercury-added products progressively between 2025 and 2027, taking into account the availability of mercury-free substitutes.

Ends/Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Issued at HKT 15:42

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