Kenyan authorities finally state what will happen to travelers arriving in the country carrying plastic bags

National Environmental and Management Authority (NEMA) has stated that travelers coming into the country carrying duty free plastic shopping bags will be ordered to leave them at the airport.A ban on plastic bags came into force Monday in the country and those found violating the new regulation could receive a maximum fine of $38,000 or a four-year jail term.The ban applies to the use, manufacture, and importation of plastic shopping bags and gives a minimum fine of about $19,000 or up to a year imprisonment, according to the government.Exemptions were made for manufacturers producing plastic bags for industrial use.“Since duty free shops at airports are considered to be outside the Kenyan territory, bags used at this point are not affected by the ban. However, any traveller coming into Kenya with duty free bags shall be required to leave the same at the entry points,” the authority’s director general Geoffrey Wahungu said in a notice to all manufactures, importers and users of plastic bags.The ruling makes Kenya the latest Africa country to effect a ban on plastic bags after Mauritania, which imposed the ban in 2013.Rwanda, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Malawi are other African countries whi have adopted the ban or announced plans to adopt it.This is the third time that the government is issuing a ban on plastic bag, after similar attempts in 2007 and 2011 failed.Some 100 million plastic bags are handed out every year in Kenya by supermarkets alone, according to the United Nations Environment Program.Thin plastic shopping bags litter Nairobi’s streets and contribute to towering piles at dump sites. The Kenyan government says the bags harm the environment, block sewers and don’t decompose.