Following a plan to levy excise duty on imports, giving local manufacturers a fighting opportunity to resume production, Kenya is on a backpedaling mission against its own campaign against plastic bags.
The suggestion is part of the country’s Finance Bill 2023, which is now being debated in the National Assembly.
The proposed law exempts locally produced plastics from excise tax while charging importers for “articles of plastic of tariff heading 3923.30.00 and 3923.90.90.”
If the idea is passed into law as it stands, it will expand the manufacturing of local plastics, making them more affordable and competitive, which will create jobs. The government has made significant investments in conservation, but even as this occurs, rising manufacture of less expensive plastics may exacerbate environmental pollution worries. Making them more affordable could undermine Kenya’s attempts to eradicate single-use plastics within its borders. Kenya has established itself as a global leader in the fight against plastic pollution.
The idea in the bill, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Limited, a local audit firm, will be a welcome relief because it protects local producers even if it conflicts with the government’s environmental conservation effort, which calls for banning the use of plastics.
“The domestically made plastics will boost consumption since they are competitive, reasonable, and economical. However, according to PwC’s analysis of the Finance Bill, “this proposal runs counter to the government’s policy of limiting the use of plastics in an effort to minimize pollution.
On August 28, 2017, the Environment Management Coordination Act, which outlined fines for the use of plastic bags, went into effect. The harshest rule against single-use plastic bags imposes fines of up to Sh4 million on anyone discovered manufacturing, selling, or carrying the plastic bags. Single-use plastic bags are still a problem for the nation’s environmental protection six years later. Among other things, milk, sugar, and bread are still packaged in plastic bags, making the law’s application laughable.
Anyone found manufacturing, selling, or transporting single-use plastic bags faces fines of up to Sh4 million under the strictest law against them.
Six years later, the issue of single-use plastic bags still affects the country’s environmental protection. The law’s implementation is ridiculous because items like milk, sugar, and bread are still wrapped in plastic bags.