In the letter, it calls on the EU trade commissioner to 'scrap an unnecessary investigation into whether China is selling plastic bags in Europe too cheaply'.
'We believe this case should be halted immediately, as it fails to meet the Commission's own rules for even qualifying as an investigation,' said British Retail Consortium director-general Kevin Hawkins in the submission.
'European retailers and manufacturers have been importing low-value plastic bags from Asia for over 20 years - Without the lower raw material prices in Asia, European producers could be just as competitive. We would urge the Commission to investigate the reasons behind this stark differential instead.'
The letter is signed by a wide range of retail names, from Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy to Lekha Klouda of the Association of Charity Shops.
In Retail Week tomorrow, Laura Weir investigates the potential for another EU/China impasse over plastic bag imports and asks whether retailers could get stuck in the middle again.
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