14 May 2007
Gaborone — Government is holding steadfast to its decision to outlaw the indiscriminate use of any plastic bag by retailers and consumers, despite all-round protests and requests for an adjustment period by wholesalers and retailers. A new environment-inspired standard comes into effect today, Monday.
At a special seminar recently, strong objections were met with an equally obstinate rhetoric from a standards officer:
"What do you do with expired products? There will be measures taken against anyone found supplying the old plastic bags (after Monday). Action will be taken," said Elsie Mentjies of the Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS).
The punitive measures include a P5, 000 fine or a prison term of three years for non-compliance and a P3, 000 fine or imprisonment of one year for barring BOBS inspectors from entering premises. The new standard, known as BOBS 186:2006, is designed to reduce littering, particularly in tourist areas such as the Okavango Delta and lessen cattle deaths from plastic ingestion. It's projected effect is to minimise the amount of non bio-degradable plastic bags in use throughout Botswana.
BOBS says the new standard sets the minimum thickness of plastic bags and requires addresses of manufacturers or suppliers to be with or on plastic bags in use in Botswana. It is believed that the thicker plastic bags - which is what they will be - will encourage reuse, and thus reduce the quantity in circulation.
However, the country's major retailers have slammed the new compulsory standard, saying the new plastic carrier and flat bags could cost between 75 percent and 100 percent more than the current thinner versions. Retailers, among them the big supermarket chains, have said they will be forced to pass on the additional costs to consumers. Speaking during a BOBS seminar on the new standard, heads of supermarket chains said the issue of whether to sell the plastic bags in order to encourage reuse by consumers was contentious.
"The retail industry is highly competitive," said Dave Wykerk of Metsef. "What will happen when some sell the plastic bags and others do not? Besides, we have a lot of the old type in stock. What will happen to these on Monday?
"You surely don't expect us to throw them away? You might have given us a grace period to clear the old ones. Anyway, the sale of the new ones should be legislated so as to be more effective and binding."
Bobby Rushforth of Shoprite Checkers said members of the public were not adequately informed about the new standard, yet they will bear the costs of the new measures. "You are trying to alleviate one problem by creating another," she said. "There should be more education to explain to the public why this standard is necessary. The objectives must be clear. The fact is that most of us have three to four month's stock in hand; what are we expected to do with it on Monday?
In response, BOBS Managing Director, Elsie Meintjies, said all stakeholders had been given the statutory two months to prepare for the introduction of the changes.
She acknowledged that retailers had asked trade and industry minister Neo Moroka for an extension of time, but the minister had turned the request down. Said Mentjies: "These discussions started a long time ago.
The first request by the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism was in 2005. We started talking to the industry in July last year. In January, the preliminary notice was gazetted. "I did not get any objection about the standard itself. Rather, the objections were about the period. I recommended to the Minister that the period be extended, but he decided to stick to the statutory period of two months." Meintjies said the press, radio and television, as well as MPs, had been briefed about the impending standard in order to sensitise the public about it.
Meanwhile, a new self-declaration form has been dispatched to all border posts enabling importers of plastic bags to declare whether their products are in line with the new standard.
The new standard was first suggested by environmental watchdog, Somarelang Tikologo, which initiated research into the hazards of plastic bag littering and their proliferation in 1997.
The NGO then made a recommendation to the Ministry of the Environment, Wildlife and Tourism.
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