Trading hours in Western Australia maybe slowly catching up with international standards but the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) in the state is convinced that the government is stopping short too soon.

Starting on November 1, shops in Perth and other metropolitan areas across the state would be allowed to operate until 9:00 pm on weekdays while shops that offer durable goods such as furniture would be permitted to open on Sundays according to the new law passed by the state parliament.

CCI representative James Pearson said on Friday that the revised trading hours in the state is a welcome development but it still fall short as he stressed that "WA's retail trading hours are slowly being brought up to date, it's time that the government took the easy decision and allowed Sunday trading right across Perth."

Mr Pearson argued that Sunday trading hours have become the norm in many cities as he pointed out that "in other parts of the country, extended trading hours have seen growth in the retail sector so consumers win and retailers win as well."

However, the Independent Grocers Association in WA believed otherwise as it observed that the longer trading hours in the metropolis would be a futile effort on the part of the state government since fewer shops would be willing to open during the extended hours.

Group president John Cummings said that most independent retailers in Western Australia would not want "to see extended trading through the week and none of these retailers will be open past the current trading hours when this comes in on the first of November."

Mr Cummings further argued that extended trading hours were already being observed in the CBD and Subiaco at the start of the year yet retailers in those areas opted to participate, making the new law almost unnecessary.

He said that the new trading policy was simply implemented to eliminate smaller retail outlets with the backing of retail giant Coles.