Parliament of the Maldives has passed the government-proposed bill to ban the import of single-use plastics. The amendment bill to the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act was passed with 49 votes in favour.
The act was amended in accordance with the pledge of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to phase out single-use plastics in the country. The amendment bill dictates the types of single-use plastics the president declares harmful to the environment can no longer be imported, produced, or made available in the country.
President Solih has the authority to add items to the list of banned single-use plastics in various phases. The bill dictates the president is required to publish his first list of banned single-use plastics before January 1, 2022. Single-use plastics are defined as plastic items that are produced and made available in the market to be used once and discarded.
The government announced its commitment to phasing out single-use plastics in the Maldives by 2023, as per the Parliament Resolution of 2019. President Solih also made a similar declaration at the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in the same year.