Supermarket chains Hao Mart and Ang Mo Supermarket are no longer required to charge patrons for plastic bags after being deregistered from the disposable carrier bag charge scheme.Responding to queries from AsiaOne, the the National Environment Agency (NEA) said that the two supermarket operators successfully applied to withdraw from the scheme at the end of 2025.Both operators were able to withdraw from the scheme because their annual turnover for each of the last three years did not exceed the threshold of $100 million under the Resource Sustainability Act.They were initially enrolled in the scheme — first introduced in July 2023 — which required supermarket operators to charge a minimum of five cents for each disposable carrier bag provided.Being deregistered from the scheme also means that Hao Mart and Ang Mo Supermarket will no longer need to report to NEA on the number of carrier bags issued or the proceeds collected from their issuance.While they are no longer obliged to charge for issuing plastic bags, the choice to charge customers will be at their discretion, said NEA. Read more