1 June 2026, Jakarta, Indonesia/Manila, Philippines - Environmental health and justice groups in Indonesia and the Philippines commended police and customs authorities for intercepting an illegal shipment of mercury en route from Jakarta to Mindanao.

In a joint statement, Nexus3 Foundation, Center for Regulation, Policy and Governance (CRPG Indonesia), BAN Toxics, Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS), and the EcoWaste Coalition lauded the Greater Jakarta Metropolitan Police (Polda Metro Jaya) and the Tanjung Priok Port Customs for intercepting a mercury smuggling operation that recently took place at Indonesia's busiest and most advanced seaport.

According to Yuyun Ismawati, Co-Founder and Senior Advisor of Nexus3 Foundation, the smuggling incident underscores the urgency to strengthen national and regional capacity to address the persistent trade, as highlighted in the 2022 Bali Declaration on Combating the Illegal Trade in Mercury.

As noted in the declaration, "the extensive use of mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has accelerated international trade in mercury, including illegal trade, which has increased in the past decade... a serious concern which threatens human health and the environment."

"Indonesia must sustain coordinated efforts to eliminate illegal cinnabar mining and mercury trade," Ismawati said, as she expressed concern that "illegal operations persist due to weak law enforcement and uncoordinated oversight." She also pointed out that Indonesia urgently needs a mercury storage and stabilization facility. Domestic treatment is legally prohibited for mercury waste exceeding 260 ppm, leaving specialised international export as the only viable option.

Dyah Paramita, a legal researcher from the CRPG Indonesia, said that the interception case exposes structural weaknesses in the global mercury governance framework. "Enforcement alone cannot close a legal loophole. The Minamata Convention must be amended to end mercury use in ASGM and to establish a 2032 global phase-out."

BAN Toxics Deputy Executive Director Jam Lorenzo underscored that the continued use of mercury in the ASGM sector in the Philippines, while attributable to socio-economic factors such as poverty and the lack of access to and support for mercury-free mining technologies, is also largely driven by the illegal transboundary trade of the toxic chemical.

"There is no mercury mining in the Philippines, and all the required laws and regulations for mercury are already in place, but enforcement against its illegal entry, including mercury-added products such as skin-lighteners and fluorescent lamps, remains a challenge for local government authorities," Lorenzo said, adding that strengthening intergovernmental cooperation is imperative."

"We find this smuggling incident deeply concerning and unacceptable, as the Philippines prohibits mercury use in mineral processing as per EO 79, signed in 2012. The governmental authorities in Indonesia and the Philippines must get to the bottom of this toxic trade, which poses an imminent threat to our people and the environment, particularly in Mindanao, where ASGM continues to thrive," said Atty. Mark Penalver, Executive Director of Davao City-based IDIS.

Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition, pushed for stricter mercury controls, stating, "To uphold the goal of the Minamata Convention of protecting human health and the environment, we urge governments to end ASGM as an allowed use of mercury, step up the closure of cinnabar mining sites, and end global trade in mercury, including the use of online shopping and social media platforms to sell this highly toxic chemical and banned mercury-added products."

Source: Pressenza