Category: Archive – 2011

The Customs Department wishes to draw your attention to COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 284/2011 of 22 March 2011 laying down specific conditions and detailed procedures for the import of polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware originating in or consigned from the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (attached).

 

This Regulation applies to the import of polyamide and of melamine plastic kitchenware originating in or consigned from the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

In particular, your attention is drawn to the following requirements:

Importers or their representatives shall notify Customs authorities at least two working days in advance of the estimated date and time of physical arrival of consignments originating in or consigned from China and Hong Kong (article 4).

The release for free circulation of polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware originating in or consigned from China and Hong Kong is subject to the presentation to the customs authorities of the declaration set out in the Annex duly completed as provided for in Article 3.  This requires that the importer submit to Customs for each consignment a declaration, duly completed, confirming that it meets the requirements concerning the release of primary aromatic amines and formaldehyde laid down in Part A of Annex V and in Section A of Annex II to Directive 2002/72/EC respectively.  A model of the declaration is set out in the Annex to the Regulation. The declaration is to be drawn up in Maltese or English and shall be accompanied by a laboratory report providing information as required by article 3.

For more information kindly contact Mr Mario Brincat-Customs EU  

What does the CE marking really mean? Many products placed on the EU market have the CE marking affixed to them. This marking is the visible symbol showing that the manufacturer has taken all necessary measures to ensure that the product complies with the applicable safety legislation. It plays a crucial part in the New Legislative Framework for the EU internal market for goods, which entered into force at the beginning of 2010.

 

The Campaign

The European Commission is carrying out a campaign on the CE marking to raise awareness and understanding of the meaning behind the marking and the purpose of its use. It is primarily directed at SMEs, business and professional associations, the media, consumers and the general public.

Seminar

As part of this pan-European campaign, a seminar will be held on the 29th April 2011 at the InterContinental Malta, St. Julian's.

Registration

If you wish to attend, please send an email to by not later then the 25th April 2011. Participation is FREE of charge.

Trading Licences (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulations, 2011

2. For sub-regulation (4) of regulation 34 of the principal  regulations, there shall be substituted the following:

"(4) New licences for a commercial fair and licences already issued for a commercial fair shall be valid for seven consecutive days, including Sundays and Public Holidays, except Good Friday. Any commercial fair organised for more than seven consecutive days shall require a separate licence:

 

 

 

 

 

Provided that licenses issued consecutively for the same commercial fair in the same premises shall not exceed thirty days.".

3. For paragraph 07 in Part II of the Third Schedule to the principal regulations, there shall be substituted the following.

"07. Commercial Fair Activities.

In relation to any premises in respect of which a licence from the Trade Licensing Unit has been issued for the organisation of commercial fairs or in relation to a commercial fair requiring a permit, in both cases selling by retail or exhibit of goods, the fair may open for business between 9.00a.m. and 11.00p.m. on any day except Good Friday.".

GRTU has asked the Ministry for Finance to take strong action in agreement with the Police and the Ministry responsible for transport and Transport Malta to stop the abuse by operators who skillfully avoid the scanning equipment at the Hal Far Groupage Complex to distribute suspect imports.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are operators who, in spite of their obligation at law, never ever turn up at the Hal Far Complex. Why have an expensive scanning equipment that safeguards us all from contraband when it is the choice of the importer whether to go through the scan or not? The honest trader has no problem and go through but the others simply chose not to turn up. Do you have to be an Einstein to know why?

GRTU seeks action. Contraband is here and visible. The gate is open. No wonder thieves are around. Action please!

This is a situation that keeps getting worse. It is a very sad chapter in Malta's political history that in 2011 the malady of waiting for Government bureaucrats and Ministers to decide has gone deeper, much deeper. Business and a modern economy cannot work with this kind of lethargy.

 

GRTU said it, and will say it again most forcefully, that those in Cabinet, in high positions within the Authorities and top civil servants who are incapable of coming to a decision soundly and in the right time, have one way forward – Out – Get out! They should resign or be thrown out. Their cost to the economy and to business by their indecision and procrastination is too large to contain.

Pushing Ministers and top bureaucrats to decide on issues that really matter for business has become GRTU's major task. We do it and we do it gladly, and we do it better than all, and whilst for most of the times we get excellent results, as luckily the majority of senior officers want to work and are capable to decide, however with others who hold tight to their methods as they happen to be holier than others, we mess it up badly. These are heads who are bigger than others. With these we fail.

GRTU continues to have faith in Lawrence Gonzi  but if he does not put his foot down and appears to be doing so strongly and without respect to friends, allies and to favourite sons, then he and his Government  have a really, really serious problem. We say it loud and clear.

".eu" has become the 9th biggest top-level domain (TLD) on the Internet, the 5^th most popular country code top-level domain worldwide and ranks in 4^th place in Europe. Having a ".eu" domain is especially beneficial to small and medium-sized companies as it raises their profile on European markets by providing them with a pan-European identity on the Internet. Registrations for a ".eu" domain have grown every year since its introduction and now reach almost 3.5 million, making it the ninth most popular top-level domain in the world.

 

A ".eu" web presence is instantly recognised by potential customers that may otherwise be suspicious of a company with a country domain name they do not recognise. Examples of SMEs taking up a ".eu" domain include:

many small local companies in the Italian region of Tuscany

a Lithuanian company installing swimming pools

a British events marketing company

a Dutch children's clothing shop.

".eu" is not only easy to register, but also easy to manage in case of problems, as it operates in any of the 23 official languages of the EU.

The largest take-up for ".eu" is in Germany (31% of total ".eu" domains), The Netherlands (13%), the United Kingdom (10%), France (9%) and Poland (6%). More recently, the use of ".eu" has been growing faster in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia.

Background

".eu" first opened on 7 December 2005 to holders of prior rights including trade mark holders and public bodies. Since early April 2006, registration has been open to all EU residents and organisations established in the EU. Management of the ".eu" registry (the database holding all .eu registrations) is entrusted to EURid, an independent non-profit-making organisation. By its first anniversary, 2.5 million ".eu" domain names had been registered, another 300,000 domain names were added in 2007. In 2009, registration reached the three million mark.

Live tracking of ".eu" statistics is available at:
http://www.eurid.eu/en/about/facts-figures/statistics

One of the lessons of the financial crisis is that corporate governance, until now usually based on self-regulation, was not as effective as it could have been. It is important that companies are better run. If companies are better run, not only is a future crisis less likely but they should also be more competitive.

 

The European Commission has launched a public consultation that addresses the ways in which corporate governance of European companies can be improved. Corporate governance is traditionally defined as the system by which companies are managed and controlled. The consultation covers a number of issues such as how to improve the diversity and functioning of the boards of directors and the monitoring and enforcement of existing national corporate governance codes, and how to enhance the engagement of shareholders. The deadline for submitting contributions in response to the consultation is 22 July 2011.

What does the public consultation cover?

The lessons of the crisis will eventually lead to better supervision of financial institutions, stronger banks and effective resolution systems for failing institutions. As part of a longer term review of the corporate governance framework of companies at large, this public consultation will focus on how companies, not just financial institutions, work.  There are a number of findings that indicate that there is room for improvement in different areas of corporate governance, such as diversity in boards, shareholder engagement and the quality of corporate governance statements.

Thus, the Green Paper aims to launch a general debate on a number of issues such as:

Board of directors: questions addressed  refer to their effective functioning and ensuring they are composed of a mixed group of people, e.g. by enhancing gender diversity, a variety of professional backgrounds and skills as well as nationalities.  Functioning of boards, namely in terms of availability and time commitment of directors are also under scrutiny as well as questions on risk management and directors' pay..

how to enhance shareholders' involvement on corporate governance issues and encourage more of them to take an interest in sustainable returns and longer term performance, but also how to enhance the protection of minority shareholders. It also seeks to understand whether there is a need for shareholder identification, i.e. for a mechanism to allow issuers to see who their shareholders are, and for an improved framework for shareholder cooperation.

how to improve monitoring and enforcement of the existing national corporate governance codes in order to provide investors and the public with meaningful information. Companies who don't comply with national corporate governance recommendations have to explain why they deviate from them. Too often, this doesn't occur. The Green Paper asks whether there should be more detailed rules on these explanations and whether national monitoring bodies should have more say on companies' corporate governance statements.

The Green Paper is accessible at:
 http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/consultations/2011/corporate-governance-framework_en.htm

Waste generated by European industries and consumers is increasingly being reprocessed into secondary raw materials and new products instead of being buried in landfills. However, in the past there has been a lack of clear criteria determining when a material recovered from waste ceases to be waste and can be dealt with as other products or raw materials. The first end-of-waste Regulation adopted sets such criteria for iron and steel scrap and for aluminium scrap. It aims to stimulate European recycling markets.

 

An important aim of end-of-waste rules is to stimulate recycling markets in the EU. This will create legal certainty and a level playing field for the recycling industry, remove unnecessary administrative burdens from the recycling sector by releasing safe and clean secondary raw materials from the scope of waste legislation, and contribute to the raw materials supply of European industries.

The Regulation means clean and safe metal scrap does not have to be classified as waste provided producers apply a quality management system and demonstrate compliance with the criteria by a statement of conformity for each metal scrap consignment.

Any kind of treatment, like cutting, shredding, cleaning and de-pollution needed to prepare the scrap for the final use in steel or aluminium works or foundries has to be completed before the metal scrap can be released from waste status. For example, old cars have to be dismantled, fluids and hazardous compounds removed and the metal fraction treated in order to recover clean metal scrap which meets the end-of-waste criteria.

The establishment of 'end-of-waste' criteria was introduced by the new Waste Framework Directive which aims to achieve much higher levels of recycling and minimise the extraction of additional natural resources. The long-term goal is to turn Europe into a recycling society: one which avoids waste and uses unavoidable waste as a resource wherever possible.

Next Steps

The Regulation will enter into force after its publication and will be directly applicable in all Member States after a transition period of 6 months. The Commission is currently preparing criteria for other material streams which are particularly important for EU recycling markets, such as copper, paper, glass and compost.

Il-GRTU ilha ghal dawn l-ahhar tlett snin tirraprezentha lill-operaturi tal-water bowsers sabiex jintlahaq l-ahjar arrangament dwar l-operat taghhom. Din l-gimgha l-GRTU laqghet lill-operaturi wara li ntlahaq kompromess mall-Ministeru ghar-Risorsi u Affarijiet Rurali (MRRA), t-Transport Malta (TM) u l-Malta Resources Authority (MRA) fuq affarijiet pendenti.

 

Fost lissues diskussi;

Tankijiet fuq Trailers;

Gie miftiehem ma' Transport Malta (MT) li fi zmien erbgha xhur jitlesta ezercizzju li bhalissa ghaddej sabiex jinhargu l-log books ghal dawn il-karrijiet. Sadanittant il-Malta Resources Authority (MRA) ser tohrog licenzja temporanja ghal matul dan il-perjodu.

Registrazzjoni ta' Spira;

– Intlahaq ftehim dwar hlas ghar-registrazzjoni tal-ispira

– pagament ghall-dritt tal-licenzja annwali             

– module AMR(automatic meter reader)

– fittings addizjonali     u                 

– installazjoni                      

Sinjali/sticker mizbuha fuq il-vetturi;

Il-GRTU ghan-nom tal-operaturi qeghda tiddiskuti mal MRA l-qies tal-isticker flimkien mal kontenut.

Hlas ghall-qari ta' Meter;

Il-GRTU tkompli tiddiskuti mal Malta Resources Authority (MRA) dwar l-hlas, jekk l-ammont japplikax ghal visita jew ghal kull meter installat.

Rata tal-ilma

Il-GRTU ghada f'diskussjonijiet dwar ir-rata tal-ilma ghaldaqstant l-operaturi mhux ser jigu mitluba ihallsu ghall-ilma li qed itellghu. Il-GRTU tinfurma lil operaturi qabel ma' jidhlu hlasijiet fis-sehh.

Distrubuturi tal-garr tal-ilma 1st class

Il-GRTU tkompli bil-laqghat ma dawn id-distributuri sabiex jigu diskussi u stabbiliti ilmenti pendenti.

Hinijiet tal-operat

L-operat ghandu jsir skond l-kundizzjonijiet tal-licenzja tal-operaturi mahruga mid-Dipartiment tat-Trade.

Il-GRTU tiehu din l-opportunita sabiex tirringrazzja lil dawn l-operaturi tax-xoghol siewi u ta' bzonn nazzjonali li jaghtu f'sitwazzjonijiet ta' emergenza bhalma ma gara din il-gimgha, meta nirien hakmu fabbrika fl-Imriehel.

Il-GRTU titlob lill-awtoritajiet jirrikonoxxu x-xoghol li dan is-settur joffri mhux biss lill-komunita' izda lis-socjeta', meta jintalab, f'kazijiet ta' emergenza. Dan jghamluh b'hila kbira u fil-pront.