Since Law 1 of January 19, 2018, which prohibits bags with polyethylene and encourages the use of reusable bags, came into force, the Authority for Consumer Protection and Defense of Competition (Acodeco) has sanctioned to date, 193 economic agents from all over the country for failing to comply with the established regulations.
According to records from the Acodeco Board of Fines, since July 20, 2019, 4 years after the implementation of Law 1 of 2018, the fines for violations of this legislation amount to 50 thousand balboas, and are broken down as follows: 166 did not comply with the certificate of conformity (B/.41,750.00); 26 for not declaring costs of reusable bags (B/.7,750.00) and a penalty for charging a price higher than cost (B/.500.00).
In this year, from January to date, 64 first instance fines for B/.13,100.00 have been registered, which were applied to 23 supermarkets for B/.5,400.00; 9 department stores (B/.2,300.00); 7 pharmacies (B/.1,900.00); 15 convenience stores (B/.1,500.00); 6 clothing and footwear stores (B/.1,400.00); a jewelry or watch store (B/.300.00); and with a penalty of 100 balboas a cell phone sales location, perfumery and others.
Law 1 of 2018 promotes the use of reusable bags and prohibits the use of plastic bags with polyethylene, establishes that merchants may choose to charge or not for reusable bags and Acodeco will monitor that, in case of charging them to consumers, it is at cost price.
Since the implementation of the law, plastic polyethylene bags have been eliminated from wholesale and retail trade, reducing environmental pollution. Consumers are conscious of bringing reusable bags to their purchases.
