The objective of this voluntary commitment is to reduce the use of single use plastic bags and more effectively manage plastic waste in Fiji by introducing legislation that disincentives the use of plastic bags.

Consumption of single use check out bags was estimated in 2010 to be around 70 million per year in Fiji, with urban population use at around 150 per person per year. In 2004, a survey of three locations in urban Fiji found plastic bags at an average rate of one every seven meters over the 5.8km of roads surveyed.

The negative environmental impacts of plastic are well-documented. The Fijian Government intends to introduce regulations to reduce the use of single use plastic bags. Currently shoppers do pay extra to use plastic bags, but the price is built-in as an overhead and is not explicit in the cost of goods purchased. This represents a market failure, as the costs of plastic bags are not transparent to the consumer.