Author: SME Chamber

The Maltese Beekeeper Association, which is presided by Stephen Galea, GRTU executive council member, is closely following developments in the sector which emerged after the importation of around 450 nucleus boxes by a foreign investor to Gozo.

These nucleus boxes are claimed to have been imported from France.

 However their journey to Malta has also included passage from zones which have already been affected by the small hive beetle. It has been established that there should be no movement of bees through or from areas which have been contaminated by the small hive beetle. It would have been necessary for the transport of the nucleus boxes to have travelled through such contaminated zones since they have been transported from Reggio Calabria and Catania.

The beekeepers greatest concern remains that the excessive quantities of the imported bees will eradicate the species of the indigenous Maltese bee. This occurs because the excessive amounts bring about mating between the imported queen bees and the indigenous bee which will automatically result in altering the species itself and trigger the aggressive streak in the bees. This situation is also alarming as it may have re-introduced the American foulbrood which leads to the destruction of effected boxes. This had occurred in Malta in the past which resulted in such a situation where boxes had to be destroyed, yet it was a limited and contained situation.

The Maltese Beekeeper Association main concern is that of the eventual annihilation of the indigenous Maltese bee. A meeting for Gozitan beekeepers has been held last Tuesday 20^thJanuary where these pressing concerns where discussed and it was concluded that some form action is necessary to respond to this impending alarm. A meeting has been called for Thursday 29^thJanuary and will be held in Malta since this will develop an issue in Malta as well. During the meeting to be held on Thursday the association will be seeking a way forward to address this situation and voice its concern.

Green MT, the National Authorised Packaging Waste Compliance Scheme will be collecting glass from curb side (door to door) from 17 Local Councils in Malta on the first Friday of the month as from February 6th, 2015.

At a Press Conference to launch this environmental initiative, Joe Attard, Green MT CEO said it is high time that glass packaging is no longer allowed to be placed in the black bag and deposited in our engineered landfill. The public is to use this initiative and also the Bring in Sites available already to the public. In the presence of mayors from a number of Maltese Local Councils he outlined that Green mt would be ready to provide additional individual bins for glass as required if requested by Local Councils. This will supplement the door to door collection. Thisinitiative follows a similar initiative in Gozo

launched as from the first Thursday of every month in November 2014 in ten Local Councils in Gozo. Currently these Local Councils have reached a 2 ton collection.

Green MT aims to collect 40 tons a month of glass from these Local Councils in Malta. The Local Councils on board this initiative include Dingli, Iklin, Marsascala, Mellieha, Mgarr, Mtarfa, Marsaxlokk, Naxxar, Rabat, Siggiewi, St Julians, St Pauls Bay, Ta’Xbiex, Floriana, Gharghur, Cospicua and Vittoriosa.  At all localities the collection will start at 08.00am Mr Attard outlined that a Mobile Advert will be visiting the Local Councils in the coming two months to make sure the public is aware of such an initaitve in these Local Councils. In addition a calendar is being distributed by Green MT Eco Councillors doorto door. Campaign has already started in Cospicua and Birgu and will continue for a number of months. In addition a leaflet has been produced to show residents why glass needs to be collected and finally recycled.

At the launch Mr Paul Abela GRTU President outlined the good work that GRTU has done over the past years to make sure that SME’s take over their environmental obligations, both morally and at law. He was pleased to note that SME‘s are today more conscious of the environment but he said that enforcement for those who remain out of the loop needs to continue by the Authorities. He also thanked Government for placing the WEEE Directive on the agenda of 2015 in respect to implementation. He said discussions should formally start in earnest so that once September comes along thesystem will be running without any hiccups or delays. Of course to implement this Directive a revision of the Eco Contribution regime is to take place

The Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses, Hon Chris Cardona, addressed an information session regarding the transposition of the Late Payment Fee Directive (2011/7/EU), hosted by GRTU.

The directive seeks to create a framework to address the growing concern of business-to-business payments and payments by the government or public authorities to businesses, where such payments are effected beyond the agreed due date or remain overdue. This, as we are all aware, causes burdens on business undertakings, particularly small business, causing stress on cash-flow and at times resulting in bankruptcy.

The Directive helps ensure the proper functioning of the internal market by limiting and harmonising payment terms, permitting suppliers to claim compensation, and allow interest in the event of late payment. This directive does not apply for transactions between consumers, interest in connection with other payments such as the laws on cheques and bills of exchange, and payments made as compensation for damages including payment from an insurance company.

Public authorities have to pay for the goods and services that they procure within 30 calendar days following the receipt of invoice. Enterprises are automatically entitled to claim interest for late payment and able to obtain a minimum fixed amount of €40 as compensation for recovery costs, with the possibility of claiming all remaining reasonable recovery costs. The rate of interest for late payment between undertakings is agreed between the undertakings. If there is no such agreement, or in cases where the transaction is between a business and a public authority, the applicable interest rate is at least at 8% plus the ECB reference rate.

A payment period should be fixed in the contract in the case of business-to-business transactions. This period should not exceed 60 days unless this is expressly agreed in the contract and it is not grossly unfair to the creditor. Interests are due the day following the end of the fixed period.

The new measures of the directive are obligatory for public authorities yet optional for enterprises. Indeed one of the main concerns voiced by business representatives was that the nature of the market itself may be challenging to affect the benefits of the directive in cases of business-to-business transactions, since this may result in debtors to opt for other suppliers. Indeed this is a concern that as the Directive stands, will have to be addressed by the market itself. However it does provide a basis to act as a framework to such agreements even though it will not be the solution to all problems.

During an MCESD meeting specifically held on GRTU’s request the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Joe Mizzi explained details about the new public transport operator and service. These included details on the acquisition by the new company, the investment it will carry out, the 15 year subsidy given by the Government and the increased service it is expected to result in.

In his intervention GRTU President Paul Abela explained that public transport is very important for our members and in fact members in the localities were transport service was poor saw their business affected as a result. Mr Abela said we should look at transport in a holistic manner because the new service provider will have little impact if our roads are still plagued with the problem of traffic congestion and parking issues.

GRTU President said that a Park and Ride system accompanied by a circular bus in the busiest localities is very important and Government should use funds from the Commuted Parking Scheme specifically for such cases and to create new parking facilities, even in conjunction with the private sector.

Air Malta has strengthened its resolve to take the difficult and necessary decisions to save the national airline which will also ensure a positive outcome for the country.  This was the reaction of the airlines’ chairwoman Ms Maria Micallef after receiving the news of Cyprus Airways demise by the European Commission.

GRTU is in full support of Air Malta’s restructuring and it appeals to the various stakeholders involved to be reasonable and 

understanding to the situation, because if the airline does not show future sustainability it could follow in the footsteps of Cyprus Airways.

Air Malta plays an important role not only for the stakeholders direct involved but also for the tourism industry that thrives from the business generated by the airline. These stakeholders must accept this change in the airlines operations as a new beginning to make it sustainable again so that they can benefit from its survival.

GRTU met Hon Minister Edward Scicluna to discuss its concerns in relation to the new excise duty imposed on tyres as per Budget 2015.

Prior to the meeting GRTU analysed how the addition of the excise would impact different types of operators and the impact was indeed significant:

1.     Large tyre importers

GRTU estimated that a company importing large commercial tyres on a regular basis (6 times a year) would have normally paid around €7K in taxes (Eco Tax and VAT) a year, while with the new Excise tax they would pay around €70K a year in taxes (excise and VAT on excise).

2.  Freight forwarders

A large enterprise in this sector would change around 300 tyres a year. Up to the end of 2014 the enterprise would have paid an estimate of €1.6K in taxes (Eco Tax and VAT) while with the new system the tax element would increase to €17K (Excise + VAT).

GRTU argued that the increases on users of large tyres were too hefty and would significantly impact their competitiveness because it will increase their running costs. In addition the excise will also decrease the competitiveness of importers because it will be cheaper to change tyres outside Malta. As such GRTU suggested that the Ministry would cap the maximum amount of Excise that could be due on large tyres.

Another aspect raised by the GRTU was that whereas with the previous system eco tax was paid only once the product is sold, meaning first it is recuperated and then it is paid after, with excise, the payment is due on import. As a mitigating proposal GRTU suggested that importers would be given a longer credit term.

The Ministry accepted GRTU’s arguments and its proposals, agreeing to introduce a capping of tyres over 35kg and it also agreed to a credit term of 3 months. GRTU estimates that these changes will reduce the excise duty burden on large tyre importers by a minimum of 50%.

In addition GRTU emphasised with the Ministry that the excise duty will be even more harmful if enforcement is not effective and GRTU therefore asked for this to be beefed up. As such it suggested that the scanner would be moved on a regular basis to other areas through which importation of goods occur. This was also a proposal the Ministry found acceptable.