Executive Council spokesman Leong Heng Teng announced yesterday that the government has drafted a bill which if approved by lawmakers would force supermarkets and other retail businesses to charge customers for their plastic carrier bags.
Addressing a press conference at Government Headquarters, Leong said that the council, the government’s top advisory body, has completed its discussion of the bill aiming to reduce the use of plastic carrier bags.
Leong noted that the government has previously carried out a public consultation on the matter – which took place from December 2015 to February 2016.
The opinions collected during the consultation process generally acknowledged the critical situation resulting from the overuse of plastic carrier bags in Macau and agreed to the launch of a plastic carrier bag charge scheme in the retail sector, Leong said.
Based on the findings from the public consultation process, the government has drafted the bill with the aim of reducing plastic carrier bags’ adverse impact on the environment.
The bill will be submitted in due course to the Legislative Assembly (AL) for debate and vote.
The government proposes that the bill would become law 90 days
after its promulgation in the Official Gazette (BO), Leong said.
According to Leong, the bill proposes that the amount to be charged for each plastic carrier bag is to be determined by the chief executive in an executive order.
During the consultation process, the government proposed that one pataca should be charged per bag, Leong noted, adding that most of the opinions collected agreed to the government’s one-pataca suggestion.
Executive Council spokesman Leong Heng Teng (left) and Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) Director Raymond Tam Vai Man address yesterday’s press conference at Government Headquarters about the government’s proposed plastic carrier bag charge scheme bill. Photo: Tony Wong
This photo taken in the editorial room of The Macau Post Daily last night shows just some of the plastic carrier bags kept by staff members. Photo: Monica Leong
