CAA to withdraw gazette banning shops from charging for polythene bags

An extraordinary gazette issued earlier by the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) will be withdrawn enabling the traders to charge consumers on the single-use polythene bags issued when buying goods, it was informed to the Supreme Court yesterday.

The CAA has issued this gazette in 2008 prohibiting the traders from levying any amount on consumers for the plastic bags issued at the time of selling of goods.

The Attorney General informed this decision to the Court in response to a Fundamental Rights Petition filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice and its Executive Director Hemantha Withanage.