Plastic bag handles seem to double as a loophole to avoid paying the newly-imposed eco-tax.

The new eco-tax on plastic bags did not apply to carriers without handles, the Rural Affairs and Resources Ministry said.

This meant that snipping off the handles of a taxable bag and selling it without charging the €0.15 tax was not illegal, a ministry spokesman confirmed.

The spokesman explained this was because the government wanted to tax plastic bags used to carry shopping and not handle-less bags often used to carry food, especially bread.

The aim of the tax, he stressed, was not to collect the €0.15 on each bag but to reduce the 40 million plastic bags the Maltese used each year with the aim to safeguard the environment. In fact, the spokesman said, there were already indications that people were not asking for bags because they had to pay for them at supermarkets.

The new tax announced in the last budget started being charged last Sunday. The government gave shopkeepers until May 1 to get rid of their stocks.

The move was met with stiff criticism, mainly from environmentalists, on the basis that it did not differentiate between conventional bags and the more environment-friendly option - biodegradable bags.

After visiting several shops last Monday, the owner of a confectionary said he was planning an innovative way of utilising his stock even after the May 1 deadline: He would simply get the carrier bags he has left and cut out the handles, converting them into normal bags, which did not fall under the new regime.

Such comments led the government to issue a statement of clarification yesterday.

The government called for the cooperation of shop owners, importers, producers and consumers to work together in favour of the environment. It said it would closely monitor the market to determine if any other measures would be necessary.

The VAT Department also warned there were sanctions for anyone caught breaking the law.

For more information about the eco-contribution call on freephone 8007 4404 or 2149 9330/1/2/3/4/6 or send an e-mail to vat@gov.mt.