An oil company was charged NIS 2.3 million for distributing free bags

(Hai Pa) - The Ministry of Environmental Protection owes Paz Hebra Naft 2.3 million shekels for distributing free bags at no charge to customers.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection informed Hai Pa News Corporation:

Violate the bag law - and you'll pay: the Ministry of Environmental Protection has ordered Paz Shevra for Oil Company to pay a bag levy in the amount of NIS 2.3 million for distributing free bags and not collecting the required levy.

Elad Amihai, Senior Vice President for Local Government and Community Education at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Commissioner for the Law:

The bag law resulted in a drastic decrease in the consumption of disposable bags by about 73% among the major retailers. When a company does not comply with the provisions of the law, the Ministry of Environmental Protection takes this seriously and exercises its powers accordingly. The office will continue to act against retailers who do not operate in accordance with the law and distribute bags without compensation and without collecting the levy for the bags distributed.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection charged the Paz Oil Company with a bag levy in the total amount of approximately NIS 2.3 million for failure to comply with the obligation to report and pay the levy to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, as required by the law on bags.

The bag law was enacted to encourage informed consumer behavior in the use of bags through the payment mechanism, and to reduce the environmental pollution caused by the increased use of single-use bags. The law originally prevented and until today has led to a reduction and decrease in the consumption of disposable bags by 73% in the large retail chains compared to the base year, 2016.

The Paz company has not yet forwarded all the reports to the supervisor in the office

As part of the ongoing activities and audits conducted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection as part of the implementation of the law, it emerged that the Paz company had not yet submitted all the reports to the supervisor of the Ministry of Environmental Protection on the scope of the bags it sold. Therefore, the ministry imposed a financial sanction on the company for non-reporting in the amount of approximately NIS 52, which the company paid last May. Despite the imposition of the financial sanction, the company still has not completed its reporting obligations and has not transferred the levy money on the bags it delivered to the cleaning fund.

Therefore, the ministry made an assessment of the amount of bags that the company gave to its customers without any consideration from the date of the company's entry into the list of major retailers until the middle of 2023, and according to the ministry's assessment, it is about 2.3 million shekels that were supposed to be paid for the benefit of the cleaning fund. This calculation is based on the nature of the company's activity and the number of convenience stores it owns, and the company is now required to pay the full levy.

The person in charge of the law in the Ministry of Environmental Protection may continue to charge the company with financial sanctions for non-reporting and to charge it for the bag levy that the company had to transfer. As long as the company does not correct its violations, the ministry will consider further steps, including the imposition of fines of tens of thousands of shekels every year, in addition to the levy it is required to pay for the bags delivered to its customers.

The trend of reducing the scope of bag consumption

The Ministry of Environmental Protection will continue to act with all the tools and powers available to it according to the law, to ensure that the retailers operate according to the law. This, in order to continue the trend of reducing the scope of disposable bag consumption and protecting the environment.

Paz Oil Company was defined as a major retail company as of mid-2021 following the purchase of the Freshmarket retail chain. Therefore, it has obligations under the law to reduce the use of single-use carrier bags, 2016. In accordance with the law, the company must collect from its customers in convenience stores a levy for the delivery of bags and transfer it to the cleaning fund, and in addition, the company is required to submit quarterly and annual reports to the supervisor at the Ministry of Environmental Protection, for the amount of bags sold.