The ban on the use of single-use plastic straws, bags and swabs will come into full effect in 2024.
The Attorney General of the Nation, Margarita Cabello Blanco, considered that article 6 of Law 2232 of 2022, which sets a Two-year term to restrict the marketing and distribution of single-use plastic products, such as straws, bags and swabs, is in accordance with the Constitution.
In a concept sent to the Constitutional Court, the head of the Public Ministry pointed out that, these elements correspond to those that must be replaced in a short termgiven that they are polluting and there are others that, in addition to reasonably replacing them, generate less impact on the environment.
indicated, that the entry into force of the restriction should not be extended to the eight-year term that was set for other elements, such as plastic containers, since the two-year term granted, while allowing the companies that sell them an adequate economic transition, is supported by technical studies and agreements of the National Table for the Sustainable Management of Plastic.
held that the differentiation within the established term does not violate the principle of equality nor economic freedoms, because he finds a sufficient reason in “the development of the different measures to facilitate the progressive elimination of the regular use of single-use plastics, without disproportionately affecting the companies that produce and market them”.
For this reason, the prosecutor asked the Court declare enforceable the defendant standard, whose prohibitions on the use of single-use plastic straws, bags and swabs will fully come into force in the year 2024.