The American Samoa Environmental protection Agency informs the business community that the law banning the sale and distribution of polystyrene foam containers will be enforced beginning January 1st, 2025.
The law was supposed to take effect in September however ASEPA announced that because there was still a significant volume of polystyrene foam containers on island yet to be sold it made the decision to delay the ban until January 2025.
The extension period was implemented to allow businesses additional time to exhaust remaining inventory of foam container that were legally imported into the territory prior to the ban’s effective date.
On Friday ASEPA announced that all businesses, including stores, and food establishment have until December 31st 2023 to sell and distribute their existing stocks of foam containing without threat of penalty.
ASEPA said that the sale and distribution of foam container products will be strictly enforced beginning January 1 and businesses were informed that the agency will conduct periodic inspections of foam container inventories this week.
The law banning the importation, sale and distribution of polystyrene containers was signed into law in February. It gave importers six months to sell any stock of polystyrene foam products imported prior to the effective date. The law provided that unsold products shall be subject to confiscation and the cost of disposal shall be paid by the importer or shipper.
The penalties provided under the law are $300 for a first offense, $500 to $1,000 for a second offense, $1000 to $2000 for a third offense, and subsequent offenses would be subject to a fine of between $2,000 and $5,000.
