S.I. ……..OF 2018 
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT, 2016  
(Act 18 of 2016)  
Environment Protection (Restriction on the manufacturing, importation, distribution and 
sale of Plastic Straws ) Regulations  2018 
In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 80 read in with Section 4(d) and Section 41(c) of 
the Environment Protection Act 2016, the Minister responsible for Environment, Energy and 
Climate Change hereby makes the following regulations -   
1. These Regulations may be cited as the  Environment Protection (Restriction on the 
manufacturing, importation, distribution and sale of Plastic Straws) Regulations 2018 
2. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires:  
“AS” means Australian Standard ; 
“ASTM” means the American Society for Testing and Materials ; 
“biodegradable straw” means a straw that is made of non – plastic materials, including; 
paper, sugar cane, wood or bamboo, that can be biologically broken down naturally by 
bacteria and other living org anisms into natural elements in a normal environment 
leaving no toxicity in the soil”  
 
“certificate of conformity” means a document, tag, label, or nameplate, provided on 
delivery to the buyer that attests the product compliance with s tandards ; 
“EN” means the European Standard;  
“exempted plastic straw” means a plastic straw specified in the First Schedule; 
“Ministry” means the Ministry responsible for Environment ; 
“plastic” means material which contains as an essential ingredient a high polymer s uch as 
polyethylene terephthalate, high density polyethylene, Vinyl, low density polyethylene, 
polypropylene, polystyrene resins, multi -materials like acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, 
polyphenylene oxide, polycarbonate, Polybutylene terephthalate;  
“plasti c straw ” means a straw  made of plastic ; 
“Seychelles Bureau of Standards” means the national standard body established under the 
Seychelles Bureau of Standard Act 2014 ; 
“standards” means the applicable standards specified in the second Schedule  or its 
equivalent ;          “validation” means confirmation  through the provision of objective evidence, that the 
specified requirements for a specific intended use or application have been fulfilled.  
3. The manufacturing, importation, distribution and sale  of plastic straws  for use within the 
Republic of Seychelles which does not fall into the category of exempted plastic straws 
as specified in the First Scheduled are hereby prohibited.  
4. (1)The Ministry responsible for Finance and T rade, subject to the approval of the 
Ministry  responsible for environment  may issue import permits for –  
(a) biodegradable straws  
 
(b) exempted plastic straws  
2) Subject to subsection (1) (a), upon submitting an import permit application the importer shall 
submit a certificate of conformity which shall stipulate the standard to which it is compliant to.  
3) The Seychelles Bureau of Standards shall be  designated by the Ministry as the responsible 
body to undertake the validation of the certificate of conformity.  
4) Subject to subsec tion (2) an application to import shall not be granted if the certificate of 
conformity is not validated by the Seychelles Bureau of Standards.  
(c) Any person who contravenes these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be  
liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding SR20,000 or to imprisonment for a period not 
exceeding one year, or to both such fine and imprisonment. 
 
(d) Where a consignment of plastic  straws  has been imported in breach of these 
regulations, the consignment shall be handled in line with Section 246 (1)(b) or 247(1) of the 
Customs Management Act 2011. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FIRST SCHEDULE  
(see Regulation 3)  
 
EXEMPTION LIST  
 
1. Any plastic straw which –  
 
(a) Forms part of pre -packaged beverages.  
 
(b) Forms part of any other pre -packaged product.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SECOND SCHEDULE  
 
STANDARDS  
 
ITEM  APPLICABLE STANDARDS  
Biodegradable straw  AS 4736 –2006  
 ASTM D6400  
 EN 13432  
 ISO 14855