LEADING British retailers are protesting against a threat by the European Union to impose anti-dumping duties on plastic bags imported from China, The Times has learnt.

Members of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) have written to Peter Mandelson, the EU’s Trade Commissioner, urging him to resist calls from member states to impose protectionist barriers against imports of leather footwear and plastic bags.

In July the European Commission launched an investigation into the dumping of plastic bags by China, Malaysia and Thailand. It is expected to approve retaliatory duties next month on Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes.

The inquiries into shopping bags and shoes come after the trade war earlier this year over imports of Chinese bras and T-shirts, in which the Commission imposed import quotas.

Every year an estimated 17.5 billion plastic bags are given away by supermarkets, equivalent to about 290 bags for every person in the UK.

The letter to Mr Mandelson was signed by 13 British retailers, including Stuart Rose, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive of Tesco, and Justin King, chief executive of Sainsbury. It accuses certain EU states of using protectionist measures as a shield against domestic reform.

The letter says: “Retailers will bear the brunt of a policy that favours uncompetitive European producers at the expense of consumers and those producers who have adapted their businesses to meet the competitive challenge.”

Instead, the retailers urge the Commission to leave behind “outdated mechanisms for manageing trade” and focus on reforming Europe’s economy.

Last summer the Commission launched its plastic bag investigation after 30 EU manufacturers complained that Asian competitors were selling bags for export more cheaply than they were sold on their domestic markets.

Supermarkets and clothing retailers worry that tariffs could add millions of pounds to their costs. In 1997 the EU imposed a 60 per cent retaliatory tariff on plastic bags from India, accusing their manufacturers of dumping.

The average plastic bag made in China costs between 1p and 2p, although fancy bags used by fashion shops could cost double that. A retailer such as Marks & Spencer might use 200 million bags every year.

A spokesman for the BRC said that the cheapness of the Chinese bags reflected in part the lower cost of polyethylene in Asia. Referring to the footwear investigation, he said: “Europe should focus on what we are good at, which is design and added value. These investigations are sops to inefficient manufacturers.”

The EU fined 16 European manufacturers €290 million (£198 million) last month for operating a cartel in industrial plastic bags.

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