G/TBT/N/EU/176  
 
28 January 2014  
(14-0449)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
 NOTIFICATION 
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member:  EUROPEAN UNION  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  European Commission 
Name and address (including telephon e and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :   
European Commission 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point 
Fax:  +(32) 2 299 80 43 E-mail:  eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu  
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/    
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:   
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  
Lightweight plastic carrier bags 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Proposal for a 
Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 94/62/EC on 
packaging and packaging waste to reduce the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier 
bags (COM(2013) 761 final) (7 pages, in English; 8 pages, in French; 8 pages, in Spanish).  
6. Description of content:  The Packaging Directive (Directive 94/62/EC) contains 
provisions setting targets for reuse and recycling of packaging. This proposal defines the term 'lightweight plastic carrier bags' as plastic carrier bags with a thickness below 50 microns and introduces an obligation to reduce consumption of these lightweight plastic 
carrier bags supplemented with a recommendation to Member States to use economic 
instruments for this purpose as well as the possibility to introduce marketing restrictions in derogation of Article 18 of the Directive.  G/TBT/N/EU/176 
 
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  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:  Plastic carrier bags are considered as packaging under the Packaging and 
Packaging Waste Directive (Directive 94/62/EC). There is no EU legislation or policy 
specifically targeting plastic carrier bags. 
Plastic carrier bags are widely used for transporting shopping items from the store back 
home. About 89% of all plastic carrier bags consist of lightweight plastic carrier bags. 
The unsustainable consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags, their inappropriate 
end-of-life treatment, and their resistance to degradation are damaging our environment including marine ecosystems. These issues are underscored by common and 
transboundary environmental impacts, as well as economic and social consequences. 
The general objective of this initiative on plastic carrier bags is to limit negative impacts 
on the environment, encourage waste preventi on and a more efficient use of resources, 
while limiting negative socio-economic impacts. 
More specifically, the objectives of the initiative are to: 
- limit the environmental damage caused by an increasing consumption of plastic 
bags, in particular in terms of littering and unsustainable resource use, by 
significantly reducing the amount of ligh tweight plastic carrier bags consumed per 
capita by 2015; 
- tackle a common and transboundary problem in a coordinated and coherent way 
across the EU. 
8. Relevant documents:   European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 
December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste ( OJ L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 10–23 ) 
http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:1994:365:0010:0023:EN:PDF    
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    To be determined Entry into force is the day following publication in the Official Journal of the EU 
(The implementation deadline for EU Member 
States shall be 12 months after entry into force)  
10. Final date for comments:  90 days from notification 
11. Text available from:  National enquiry point [  ], or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresse s, if available of the other body:    
European Commission 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point 
Fax:  + (32) 2 299 80 43 
E-mail:  eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu  
The text is available on the EU-TBT Website:  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/     
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2013:0761:FIN:EN:PDF  
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2013:0761:FIN:FR:PDF  
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2013:0761:FIN:ES:PDF  
http://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2014/TBT/EEC/14_0381_00_e.pdf