China to Ban Plastic Bags Starting in June 2008
China taking a lead from other countries plans to ban use of ultra thin plastic bags starting June 2008. Under the new rule shops can still use more durable plastic bags, but will be required to charge shoppers for them.
Chinese Government is urging shoppers to turn to cloth bags and shopping baskets to reduce the use of plastic. China is one of the leading consumers of plastic bags. China uses three billion plastic bags a day and the country has to refine 37 million barrels of crude oil every year to make plastics used for packaging.
Starting in June, shops, supermarkets and sales outlets are forbidden to give away free plastic bags and all carriers must be marked with their prices. Plastic bags are a scourge on the planet and a plastic bag takes 400 to 1,000 years to decompose in landfill sites, they are regarded as one the most unfriendly options for green communities.
Plastic bag litter degrades water quality and harms wildlife. Hong Kong now has a bill to impose a levy on plastic bags while Bangladesh, was the first large country to ban bags. Now at least 40 countries and many cities across world have either imposed or are considering, the bans on plastic bags.
This is such a good news. Even though I use plastic bags everyday this will be great for the environment. When Ikea started to charge for plastic bags, I thought they were crazy! But now my opinion about them changed completely and I love carrying my stuff out without any bags. I need to start bringing my own bags to the grocery stores. Who’s with me?
AzureWolf and 2 others are discussing.
sollee 11:11 am on January 21, 2008 Permalink |
I’m definitely with you my friend…There are other options that we could use instead of those plastic bags to save energy and the environment as well…Let us also patronize the use of marerials which could be easily recycled.
Mario 11:46 am on January 21, 2008 Permalink |
I’m sure this is a good idea, yet I wonder what kind of effects it will have on shoppers. Plastic bags are extremely convenient, and bringing your own bags would be quite tedious.
But hey, I suppose the environment is worth it, eh?
AzureWolf 11:53 am on January 21, 2008 Permalink |
Yes, this is great, considering the sheer volume China uses. I mean, if China is able to adapt, that gives every other country no excuse not to do the same!
Iowa Kango 1:37 am on January 22, 2008 Permalink |
This is a great idea . . . especially the notion of charging people extra for these bags. I wish we’d adopt similar practices in the U.S.
Cindy Findley 9:09 pm on January 13, 2009 Permalink |
This is interesting. In 2004 the US Government issued its own order against Chinese plastic bags!
SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 736(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, the Department of Commerce is issuing an antidumping duty order on polyethylene retail carrier bags from the People’s Republic of China.
Antidumping Duty Order
On August 2, 2004, the International Trade Commission (ITC) notified the Department of Commerce (the Department) of its final determination pursuant to section 735(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), that the industry in the United States producing PRCBs is materially injured within the meaning of section 735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act by reason of less-than-fair-value imports of subject merchandise from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Therefore, in accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, the Department will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon further advice by the Department, antidumping duties equal to the amount by which the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the U.S. price of the merchandise for all relevant entries of PRCBs from the PRC. These antidumping duties will be assessed on all unliquidated entries of PRCBs from the PRC entered, or withdrawn from the warehouse, for consumption on or after January 26, 2004, the date on which the Department published its Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination: Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from the People’s Republic of China, 69 FR 3544 (January 26, 2004).
Section 733(d) of the Act states that instructions issued pursuant to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in effect for more than four months except where exporters representing a significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise request the Department to extend that four-month period to not more than six months. At the request of exporters that account for a significant proportion of exports of PRCBs, we extended the four-month period to not more than six months. See 69 FR at 3545-46. In this investigation, the six-month period began on the date of the publication of the preliminary determination and ended on July 24, 2004. Therefore, in accordance with section 733(d) of the Act and our practice, we will instruct CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to liquidate, without regard to antidumping duties, unliquidated entries of PRCBs from the PRC entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after July 24, 2004, and before the date of publication of the ITC’s final injury determination in the Federal Register. Suspension of liquidation will continue on or after this date.
With the exception of subject merchandise manufactured and exported by Hang Lung Plastic Manufactory, Ltd. (Hang Lung) and Nantong Huasheng Plastic Products Co., Ltd (Nantong), on or after the date of publication of the ITC’s notice of final determination in the Federal Register, CBP will require, at the same time as importers would normally deposit estimated duties on this merchandise, cash deposits for the subject merchandise equal to the estimated weighted-average antidumping margins listed below. Because we found de minimis margins for Hang Lung and Nantong, we are excluding merchandise manufactured and exported by Hang Lung and Nantong from this order. The PRC-wide rate applies to all entries of the subject merchandise except for entries from the companies that are identified individually below.
Compliments of http://cyberregs.com/