Panama becomes first Central American country to ban plastic bags

Panama has become the first Central American nation to ban single-use plastic bags in an attempt to curb pollution on its beaches and help tackle the marine plastic issue.

Supermarkets, pharmacies, and retailers in Panama must stop using PE plastic bags immediately, while wholesale stores will have until 2020 to conform to the policy.

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Fines can be applied to non-compliance, but there are exceptions for the use of plastic bags for sanitary reasons, such as with raw food.

Panama joins 60 others countries throughout the world to have totally or partially banned single-use plastic bags.