ACCC issues final decision on plastic bag charge trial
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today issued its final decision to grant authorisation* to the Australian National Retailers Association to conduct a four-week trial of a ten cent charge for lightweight plastic shopping bags.
Coles Supermarkets, Safeway Supermarkets and IGA retailers in Narre Warren, Wangaratta and Warrnambool in Victoria will all participate in the trial, which was developed with the support of the Victorian Government.
The ACCC has also granted authorisation for the parties to the pilot program to disseminate information and data based on the results of the program. This information will be made public after it has been presented to government and industry participants in November.
ANRA has advised that the trial will run from 18 August to 14 September 2008. Interim authorisation for the pilot program took effect on 1 August 2008.
The pilot program seeks to quantify the consumer response to introducing a charge on plastic bags supplied by supermarkets at three locations in Victoria. It is hoped that this data will assist retailers and government to determine how best to reduce plastic bag use.
The parties to the pilot program recently agreed to donate all proceeds from the charge for plastic bags during the trial to environmental projects agreed to by the Victorian Government and ANRA.
The participating retailers have also agreed to bear all of their own costs associated with the imposition of the charge and the pilot program.
"The ACCC considers that the information to be extracted from the trial has the potential to deliver benefits to the public by assisting governments to determine the most effective way to achieve their goal of reducing plastic bag consumption nationally," ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.
"The ACCC notes that consumers in Narre Warren, Wangaratta and Warrnambool can avoid the charge on plastic bags by bringing their own carry bags."
Given that the application only relates to a short term trial, the ACCC has not made an assessment of the benefits and detriments of imposing a permanent charge for lightweight plastic shopping bags.
The ACCC's final determination will be available on the ACCC website.
*Authorisation provides immunity from court action for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974. Broadly, the ACCC may grant an authorisation when it is satisfied that the public benefit from the conduct outweighs any public detriment. The ACCC conducts a comprehensive public consultation process and issues a draft determination before making a decision to grant or deny authorisation.
