The confédération luxembourgeoise du commerce asbl (CLC) has referred to recent bills of the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development in which the ministry has proposed a range of measures aimed at reducing the use of plastic in the food trade and strengthening the existing recycling and collection network.
The CLC states that the ambition of the ministry is to position Luxembourg as a European leader in terms of ecological and sustainable food trade; however, the CLC is concerned that the practical implementation or the real impact of the proposed measures is more than hazardous.
The CLC claims that the bills will have a considerable impact on prices, the range of products offered and therefore also on the competitiveness of the food trade in Luxembourg. It states that Luxembourg is not an island and any Luxembourg resident can, in less than 20 minutes, undertake foreign trade to obtain supplies and import packaging into Luxembourg, without there being any collection of financial contribution and recycling systems in Luxembourg.
While supporting the main principles of European directives, the Chamber of Commerce and the CLC propose to assess, in consultation with the sectors concerned, ways to go beyond the directives and to support the ministry's ambition in this regard.
The CLC concludes that the ministry must review certain aspects of its proposal and adapt them to the reality on the ground, in order to avoid undesirable side effects which risk inducing results contrary to the initially planned objectives.
