Starting in early 2007, three Latin American countries - Chile, Ecuador, and Panama - were selected to participate in a pilot project to provide information on the magnitude of mercury emissions at national level by developing National Mercury Emissions Inventories and linking them to national PRTR systems.
A Letter of Understanding was signed between the National Authority of the Environment (ANAM) of Panama and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in June 2007 to develop this project.
In this context, the following outcomes were expected to be completed by the end of the project:
- A National Mercury Releases Inventory including the main categories of country emission sources, emission pathways within each category and emission quantification.
- A National Strategy to address the integration of the National Mercury Inventory within a national PRTR system.
- A National Mercury Risk Management Plan outlining options to reduce mercury releases and exposures, taking into account national conditions.
