Consumer law | Regulatory Outlook September 2022

Further exclusion of market access principles for single use plastics in UK

The United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Exclusions from Market Access Principles: Single-Use Plastics) Regulations 2022 were made to create a further exclusion from the "market access principles" so far as it prohibits the sale of single use plastic plates, straws, drink stirrers, stemmed cotton buds, cutlery, chopsticks, balloon sticks, and expanded and extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers, including cups.

The United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 contains two market access principles:

• mutual recognition (which means that if a good can be lawfully sold in the part of the UK where it has been produced or in which it has been imported into, it can be lawfully sold in any other part of the UK); and
• non-discrimination (meaning that discriminatory relevant requirements towards goods in one part of the UK should not affect the sale of goods in the other part of the country).

The exclusion from the market access principles shows the shared aim of the UK government, the Scottish government, the Welsh government and the Northern Ireland Executive to address environmental issues. In particular, the exclusion means that these principles do not apply to, or affect, any legislation so far as it prohibits the sale of the specified items in any part of the UK.

For example, from 1 June 2022, it has been illegal to sell a single-use plastic plate in Scotland, however, based on the mutual recognition principle they could be still sold in Scotland if these goods were lawfully produced in other parts of the UK. The exclusion introduced will mean that single-use plastic plates lawfully produced in or imported into other parts of the UK cannot be sold in Scotland.