Plastics industry fears ‘illegal’ fall-out from bag levy

THE JUST introduced environmental levy on supermarket bags could encourage a lot of now illegal cross-border imports from Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) states, according to Bill Naude of the Plastics Federation. The much-publicised levy of 3-cents a bag came into force on June 1, customs and trade consultants, Deloitte, told FTW. Both local manufacturers and importers of the carrier bags - in the tariff sub-headings 3923.21.10 and 3923.29.10 of the Harmonized System - are required to pay the levy. Covering “carrier bags of polymers of ethylene or propylene”, Deloitte’s Andre Erasmus added, the Customs and Excise Act has been amended with immediate effect. According to Naude, the industry is disappointed at “the quantum” of the levy. “But we’ve accepted it,” he said. However, the industry still has concerns. One of these is doubt that one of the basic pieces of logic behind the introduction of the levy is flawed. This is in the accompanying demand that supermarket bags should be made of a thicker material than the previous thinner bags - which could not be recycled. But Naude feels that the collection of bags for recycling would demand such quantities that it is unlikely to be a profitable concern for any collector. It would demand a major outlay of effort, he told FTW, for a minimum of return. He also sees difficulties amongst the Sacu states. The new levy regulations only apply to the SA market, and are not imposed on either exports or the over-border manufacturers of such bags. There has always been a lot of legal overborder trade in the old-style thinner bags in the past, Naude told FTW, but this will now be illegal imports to SA. However, he added, if a market is found for the thinner bags, their importation is likely to continue. A basic concept behind the new environmental levy - an attempt to reduce the litter problem - is also unlikely to be effective, he added. “I don’t see it making much difference to SA’s national flower,” Naude said, “the plastic bags adorning roadside trees.”