Search

3.41. Bahrain imposes import prohibitions on certain goods (from all sources) for various reasons, (...). Over the review period, new import prohibitions were introduced on the import of waste, parings and scrap of plastic through the Supreme Council for Environment Order No. 2 of 2019. (...).

Table 3.8 Prohibited imports, 2021
HS code: 39.15.10.00; 39.15.20.00; 39.15.30.00; 39.15.90.00
Product description: Waste, parings and scrap, of plastic
Justification: Protection of human, animal, or plant life or health
Institution: Supreme Council for Environment

3.96. Between 1 January 2014 and 1 May 2021, Bahrain issued 44 notifications to the WTO regarding labelling requirements. These related to (...) non-food items (single-use plastic bags, plastic products, and polyethylene bags for food packaging, (...).

3.24. (1) Monetary and fiscal measures to promote investment and support entrepreneurs: The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) grants incentives to promote investment in targeted industries, including those related to the BCG economy model (Bio-Circular-Green economy). The current investment promotion policy (7-year investment promotion strategy, 2015-2021) will not only help strengthen Thailand's economy but also enhance Thailand's capacity to achieve sustainable development goals. /Also, Ministry of Finance grants tax incentive for businesses that purchase bio-plastics packaging in order to promote the consumption of bio-plastics, the expenses of bio-plastic packaging can be used to deduct corporate income tax at the rate of 125%. /And other measure is to financially support Green Projects in which the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives provides low interest rate loans to approved agricultural entrepreneurs or agricultural related businesses which are in search of financial support for this environmentally friendly project.

Table 3.7 Products subject to import licensing requirements, 2020
Products; HS codes (2017); Purpose; Measures
Waste and scrap of plastics; 3915.10.10, 3915.10.90, 3915.20.10, 3915.20.90, 3915.30.10, 3915.30.90, 3915.90.00; Environment protection, and public health; Non-automatic licence

Table 3.19 Notified subsidies at sectoral levels
Title; Duration; Objective; Form; Responsible authority
Encouraging the transformation of plastic waste into fuel oil; August 2015–August 2018; Decrease dependency on oil imports, solve the problem of waste disposal; Financial support; Committee on Energy Policy Administration (CEPA)

4.62. In addition, Thailand notified a number of support measures to the WTO under Article XVI:1 of the GATT 1994 and Article 25 of the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, including those related to the energy sector:
- the programme encouraging the transformation of plastic waste into fuel oil: from 4 August 2015 to 3 August 2018, refineries that purchased fuel oil from plastic waste could submit requests for subsidies to the Excise Department, which forwarded them to the Energy Fund Administration Institute (EFAI).

3.38. The Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), which was adopted in 2015 and established a comprehensive framework introducing measures covering the whole product lifecycle from production via consumption to waste management and the market for secondary raw materials, is now fully implemented. On 4 March 2019, the European Commission adopted a comprehensive report on the implementation of the CEAP. The report on the implementation of the Circular Economy Action Plan presents the plastics strategy as an example of where a systemic approach was successfully adopted to tackle barriers and challenges in a material specific lifecycle. In January 2018, the EU adopted the EU Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy. The strategy pursues an ambitious approach for plastic packaging recyclability and contains a strong response to the problem of microplastics, which are a significant source of marine pollution. By 2030, all plastic packaging should be reusable or recyclable. Furthermore, the strategy calls for global action to reduce plastics pollution.

18. The EU continues to apply several prohibitions, restrictions and licensing requirements on imports which have increased in number over the review period. New or expanded prohibitions or restrictions on imports that took effect during the review period concerned measures on mercury, invasive alien species, certain persistent organic pollutants and cultural goods, for example. A directive on the single use of plastics adopted in 2019 must be transposed by member States by July 2021. (...)

20. The EU does not impose taxes, charges or levies on exports. It maintains prohibitions or restrictions on the export of about 11 categories of products, many of which are applied pursuant to international agreements, such as CITES and the Montreal Protocol. The scope of export restrictions on mercury was expanded, regulations on certain goods which could be used for capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment were replaced and codified into a new regulation, and more stringent measures were put in place for raw ivory. A ban on exports of certain plastic waste to non-EU countries will apply from 2021. (...)