MOEW Issues a Decision Obliging Manufacturers and Suppliers of Plastic Products to Register 15 New Biodegradable Plastic Products
His Excellency Dr. Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahad, the Minister of Environment and Water, issued a decision obliging manufacturers and suppliers of plastic products to register biodegradable plastic products according to the Emirates Conformity Assessment System ( ECAS ), and according to the list of requirements and conditions for registering biodegradable plastics in accordance with the Emirati specification standards, UAE 2009:5009 with a final deadline on December 1st, 2013. The decision was issued in order to effectuate the resolution of the Council of Ministers of Services No. 5/77 (2009), regarding the establishment of a program initiative to reduce the number of plastic bags and other plastic products.
The decision is currently applied on shopping bags and trash bags, but it will include other plastic products to use biodegradable products that are in line with the UAE standard. The Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology added new biodegradable plastic products to the application scope of the registration list for biodegradable plastic products to include 15 new plastic objects.
The decision includes all bags (including shopping bags, garbage bags, garment bags, and any bags used for one time only), mailing bags, secretariats bags, and periodicals mail-order bags (magazines and newspapers bags), as well as eating utensils used for one time only such as food plates, cups, plastic bubble casings and shock resistance casings ( foam wrap and cushioning packaging).
The decision also includes plastic casings used for flower packaging ( Flower wrap ), plastic casings used for secondary packaging ( Overwrap ), bars (rolls), plastic packaging used for packaging goods ( Stretch film ), tapes (rolls) of sticky plastic packaging ( Cling film ), thermo-shrink plastic rolls ( Shrink film ), plastic pads used for lining cardboard boxes ( Plastic liner ), personal care products made of plastic materials such as gloves, boots coverings, and any products toiletries made from plastic materials used for one time only, along with plastic bags used for covering bushes (seedlings), tablecloths made of polyethylene, and bags used for packaging bread , nuts, sweets, and all bakery products.
According to the decision of the Minister of Environment and Water, it is prohibited to market and trade or circulate biodegradable plastic products in the United Arab Emirates, that are not registered in the UAE conformity assessment system ( ECAS), the list of requirements and conditions, and the terms for registering biodegradable plastic products in accordance with the UAE standard No. 2009:5009 from January 1st, 2014. The marketing and trading or circulation of non-biodegradable plastic products that are listed in the UAE specification standard from January 1st, 2014, as well.