Mirroring developments in Germany, the government and retailers in Austria have agreed on a voluntary reduction in plastic bags usage. On 1 July, one-way plastic carrier bags will become subject to a charge in the country, although a minimum fee has not been set. However, responding to a PIE query, Austrian Retail Association (Vienna; www.handelsverband. at) spokesman Andreas Weigl said the amount of the fee would likely be the same as the net cost of a bag. The proposal does not include bags used to pack vegetables or fruit. The initiative's goal is to lower Austria's per capita bag consumption from 50 to 25 by 2019. The EU guidelines call for an average per capita plastic bag consumption of 90 by 2019.
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