OREANDA-NEWS. The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia opposed the ban on plastic bags on the territory of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Such a reaction to the proposal of the State Committee of Belarus for Standardization is reported by RBC.

The initiative covered bags up to 50 micrometers thick, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) labels on plastic bottles and expanded polystyrene packaging.

The plastic used to make biodegradable bags would also be the subject to restrictions. As indicated in the minutes of the meeting of representatives of the EAEU countries and companies from them, only the position of the Russian department became a problem.

The Russian side presented several arguments. Among them, there is insufficient argumentation of a ban, and not, for example, additional taxes for manufacturers of plastic packaging. Further the problems arise with sanitary and epidemiological measures - in the context of the coronavirus epidemic, medical masks should be thrown into a container in tied plastic bags. In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Trade noted that meat and a number of fruits cannot be wrapped in paper.

Moreover, the department called the ban contrary to the law on consumer protection. Avoiding packaging will drive up prices for consumers.

In June 2019, the then head of the Ministry of Natural Resources Dmitry Kobylkin also explained the impossibility of giving up plastic dishes by the fact that people employed in production would be left without work.

In the European Union, a complete ban on the use of plastic dishes, cotton swabs, drinking straws, plastic cocktail stirrers and balloon sticks will come into force in 2021.