Chinese retailers could be fined up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,428) for providing shoppers with free plastic shopping bags from June 1, the Ministry of Commerce has announced.

The maximum penalty, included in a new draft regulation, was sharply down from 30,000 yuan previously reported by domestic media.

The draft stated the prices of plastic bags could be set by shop owners themselves, but they should not be below cost.

Market places would be prohibited from offering discounts or using other methods to sell consumers plastic shopping bags at prices lower than those stated on the price tags. Free bags, even under other guises, would be banned.

Retailers would also have to list the number and prices of shopping bags separately on the sales documents given to consumers.

Supermarkets and stores violating the rules could be fined up to 10,000 yuan, while those failing to clearly price bags could be fined up to 5,000 yuan.

The regulation would not be applied to plastic packaging for the hygiene and safety of products like fresh and cooked food, said the draft.

The ministry has published the document on its website and will be seeking public submissions till April 14.

The move followed a ban in January on the manufacture, sale and use of ultra-thin plastic bags (defined as less than 0.025 mm thick) from June 1 as part of China's efforts to protect the environment and save energy.

Under the draft regulation, plastic shopping bags sold and used in stores must meet national standards. Markets would be fined up to 20,000 yuan if they failed to purchase the bags from legally-incorporated producers, wholesalers and importers, obtain related certificates and set up accounts for checks.

Meanwhile, retailers would be urged to offer conveniences for customers carrying their own shopping bags or baskets and encouraged to provide qualified, eco-friendly substitutes.

"White pollution" has become a growing concern for the government as Chinese consumers have been accustomed to carrying what they buy from shops with free plastic bags since shopkeepers began to offer them more than a decade ago.

The country's campaign against plastic bags led to the closure of the country's largest plastic bag manufacturer based in central China's Henan Province in mid January. The factory previously had an annual output of 250,000 tons or 2.2 billion yuan in value.

(Xinhua News Agency April 8, 2008)