Effective from 7 July 2009, under Hong Kong’s Environmental Levy Scheme, registered retail outlets are required to charge customers not less than 50 cents for each plastic shopping bag with a handle. The Product Eco-responsibility (Plastic Shopping Bags) Regulation which sets out the implementation details of the levy scheme was approved by the Legislative Council on 23 April 2009. The first phase of the scheme will include all retailers in major and chain supermarkets, convenience stores, personal health and beauty product stores and department stores.

The objective of the levy scheme is to encourage the public to switch to reusable shopping bags with a view to reducing the indiscriminate use of plastic shopping bags. According to a senior environmental affairs officer, a person uses three plastic bags on average each day in Hong Kong.

With the new levy, some manufacturers have opted to pre-bag both small and large products for the convenience of customers and in an effort to increase sales. While there are currently insufficient data to show whether sales of pre-bagged goods are higher than non-bagged goods, Malaysian exporters to Hong Kong should take note of the Environmental Levy and re-evaluate their product packaging to be in conformity with Hong Kong’s eco-responsibility legislation.

In 2008, Malaysia’s exports of plastic bags to Hong Kong shrank by 21.5 per cent to US$1.27 million as compared with 2007.