Author: SME Chamber

GRTU Malta Chamber of SMEs insists that Eco
Contribution must go. There are never ending reasons why this haphazard tax
introduced  by the previous administration must go once and for all.

First and foremost it has created, over
the years, an unfair level playing field in so many sectors across the retail
industry that it has become a nightmare. There are so many free riders of Eco
Contribution, including a large
number of foreign suppliers to the market, which will certainly sue the Government, if Government
even insists to make them pay such a tax. They are not accustomed to having to
pay an addittional tax in an EU Community that speaks day in day out of a fair
market level playing field and effectively see such a small Member State implementing
such legislation.

SMEs will no longer stand a legislation
that does not exist anywhere in the Community and in addittion SMEs in Malta
should not be different from their counterparts in the European Community. SMEs
have a responsibility towards abiding to EU Directives that have been
transposed to Maltese law. The WEEE Directive is one of these tragedies. Two
authorised schemes, no logistical operation at all, because no one
should be made to pay twice for an environmental obligation.

GRTU has over the years been insisting
over the abolishment of Eco Contribution.  In various meetings with
Government Ministers and officials we have made our point. Either Eco
Contribution goes or else we shall stand up to be counted. GRTU will not be
alone in taking any action needed to make sure that Eco Contribution will be
abolished. Enough is enough.

One day more of  Eco Contibution
after budget day would not be tolerated. It is the right time to make sure that
Eco Contribution goes away once and for all. This would be a feather in the hat
for the Government of the day.  Many SMEs are so upset about the fact that
the past administration did absolutely nothing about this issue that a very
good number of them voted for change.

Change is what we
want. Facts not words. We want change because this is a Government which 
promised to be Pro-business. We want Government to keep that promise.
Ridding SMEs and the business community of Eco Contribution would be no small
feat. Even setting a time frame by when this draconian Eco Contribution would
be abolished would be a feat in itself. But the coming budget must deliver.

Delivery is the name of the game, the
time for talking is now over. We hope that Government will abolish Eco
Contribution and continue to work to create sustainable long term level playing
field in all retail and manufacturing sectors. 

Waqt Konferenza organizzata illum ghal SMEs, l-Ministru
Christian Cardona qal li l-Ministeru tiegħu qed jaħdem fuq il-ħolqien ta' Liġi
dwar in-negozju tal-familja. Din il-Konferneza kienet wahda bin bosta
organizzati din il-gimgha bhala parti mic-celebrazzjoni Ewropeja, ghaldaqstant
fl-Ewropa kollha, tal-SME week, iccelebrata f'Ottubru.

Joanna Drake, Direttur għall-promozzjoni
tal-kompettitività tal-SMEs fil-Kummissjoni Ewropea, qalet li minkejja t-titjib
li sar, l-Ewropa għadha ma rkupratx għal kollox mill-kriżi ekonomika li ħalliet
effetti kbar fuq l-SMEs. Hija saħqet li l-Ewropa għandha tneħħi l-burokrazija
żejda għax din ixxekkel in-negozju, speċjalment tal-SMEs.

Dr Drake żiedet tgħid li fl-Ewropa kollha llum hawn 2
miljun persuna inqas jaħdmu fl-SMEs milli kien hemm fl-2008. Malta kellha
l-benefiċċju li ma ntlaqtitx mill-kriżi daqs pajjiżi oħra. Ir-rwol tal-gvern
irid ikun li joħloq ambjent aħjar biex l-SMEs ikollhom fejn joperaw, saħqet Dr
Drake.

Hija enfasizzat ukoll il-ħtieġa li l-SMEs Maltin
ikollhom għarfien dwar l-għajnuniet finanzjarji li jistgħu jiksbu mill-Unjoni
Ewropea.

Paul Abela, President tal-GRTU ssuġġerixxa li l-fondi
li jiġu mgħoddija mill-Bank Ċentrali Ewropew jibdew imorru direttament għand
il-Malta Enterprise biex tgħaddihom hi lin-negozji, u mhux imorru għand
il-banek l-ewwel. Dan ikun ta' għajnuna kbira għall-SMEs minħabba r-rati
għoljin tal-interessi.

GRTU has this week met the Hon Christian Cardona as Minister
responsible for Small Businesses and presented GRTU's five priorities for
Budget 2015.

Minister Cardona welcomed GRTUs contribution to the discussion in
the run up to the Budget and said that the proposals presented merit evaluation
and serious consideration. The Minister discussed with GRTU Government's
financial limitations in changing certain policies however recognized the
validity of the arguments and emphasized that he will do his best to find
solutions or compromise where possible. GRTU explained that it is aware that
there will be important changes directly linked to GRTU's priorities in this
year's Budget and that we insist that discussions need to be held and an
agreement reached prior to any announcements.

GRTU this year has focused on 5 priorities for Budget
2015: Tackling Unfair competition, Removal of Eco Tax, Reducing the cost of
finance, Tackling high trade costs and Reducing high commercial licenses.

GRTU calls for immediate
discussions prior to Budget announcements – Whilst the draft plan presented
to the European Commission gave an overview of the overall economic direction
the next Budget will be taking, GRTU felt it lacked basic vital information to
help comprehend how the set targets will be met.

In the document Government has committed itself
to continue the shift from direct to indirect taxation. It mentions indirect
taxation on consumer goods and services and a revision in fees on market
output. The questions that we naturally pose are: How will these indirect taxes
be implemented? What is meant by market output?

During a business breakfast earlier this month
GRTU probed the Minister for Finance to take action, as was promised in Budget
2014, on Eco Contribution. In reply the Minister stated that, similar to the case
with the payment of Maternity leave, Government will be moving from direct to
indirect taxation. This means that businesses will still be footing the bill
indirectly instead of directly. What benefit to business this might result in,
in relation to Eco Contribution, is dubious.

Whilst GRTU welcomes Government's commitment
not to increase VAT it should be made clear that VAT is not the only tax
element that affects prices and competitiveness. Many businesses are today
forced to carry the burden of Eco Contribution, which is an unjust and
anti-competitive tax, and simply changing its name will not make it any more
just or competitive. The biggest problem with Eco Tax is unfair competition and
introducing more taxes, be it direct or indirect, will only continue to
aggravate the already precarious situation.

All social partners have had the opportunity to
raise their priorities and concerns for the next Budget at MCESD and GRTU
raised the issues, amongst others, of unfair competition and the eco-tax
problem on several occasions now and no concrete replies on this or discussions
on the plans were held. We unfortunately get the feeling that plans are in
place but Government is reluctant to discuss them.

GRTU calls on the Government to avoid at all
costs a situation where any plans on these highly sensitive issues are unveiled
only once the Budget speech is read. We reiterate, MCESD is not a talking shop
and it is evident which stakeholders have a clear interest in the issues.
Government should come to MCESD with the intent of really discussing the plans
or speak directly to social partners to make sure an agreement is reached
before any final announcement.

The objective
of this consultation is to gather information and views on the interplay
between standardisation and intellectual property rights (IPR) such as patents.

Standardisation
is the voluntary process of developing technical specifications based on
consensus among the interested parties. Standard setting takes place in the
European and International Standardisation Organizations (ETSI, CEN, CENELEC,
ITU, ISO, IEC) but also in other organizations and fora or consortia on
national, European or international level.
Many standards comprise technologies
that are patent protected. Public authorities and the standardisation community
have developed rules and practices to ensure the efficient licensing of these
standard-related patents.

The purpose of
this consultation is to allow stakeholders interested in standardisation
involving patents, to bring to the Commission's attention their views on

how the current framework governing
standardisation involving patents performs and on

how it should evolve to ensure that
standardization remains efficient and adapted to the fast-changing economic and
technological environment

The European
Commission has the task of ensuring that the European Union's internal market
functions efficiently. Therefore harmonisation standards are particularly
important for the EU. Furthermore, an efficiently performing standardization
system is crucial for the EU's objectives in the areas of industry policy,
innovation, services and technological development.

The
consultation will close on 31 January 2015

For further
information and to submit your contribution kindly visit:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/industrial-competitiveness/industrial-policy/intellectual-property-rights/patents-standards/public-consultation/index_en.htm

Further information can be found through the
Commission portal:
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/telecom/index_en.htm#new_rules

The Local
Council of Had-Dingli has once again preferred
Green Mt as its  partner for the
collection of recyclables and packaging waste from the locality. The agreement
has been reached after discussions held between the parties during which it was
acknowledged that over the past five years, the locality has increased its
recyclables collection and has also increased its residents` awareness towards
further recycling.

The new agreement was signed earlier
this week by Green Mt's Chairman Mr Paul Abela and CEO Mr Joe Attard whilst Ms
Venera Micallef, Mayor of Had-Dingli Local Council and Deputy Executive Secretary Mark
Mallia signed on behalf of the Local Council.

The agreement includes for a twice a
week collection of the grey recyclable bag from the Local Council and includes
also the emptying of the existing bring in Sites in Had-Dingli with an option
to increase these sites if smaller bring-in-Sites on wheels are put in place.
Experience has shown over the years that the large dome shaped bring in Sites
were not very manageable and also attracted more abuse then the smaller 1100 litre bring in Sites on wheels. In
addition the new agreement sees the introduction of a co-mingled collection
from the said bring-In-Sites, thus paper, carton, plastic and metal will now be
collected together in these bring in Sites making recycling simpler to the
community and increasing economies of scale.

The agreement includes an ongoing
education campaign within the Locality which would reach across various sectors
of the community from the younger to the elder generations. The agreement
allows also for any modifications that would need to take place due to the
future implementation by Government of the Waste Management Strategy Plan
2014-2020 currently in its early stages.

Speaking at the signing event, Mr
Paul Abela Chairman of Green Mt thanked the Local Council of Had Dingli for
showing continued support to Green Mt and 
pointed out that the Scheme has worked very hard over the years, despite
an unfair level playing field, to make sure that morally our generations to
come will always remember the good work. Mr Paul Abela continued to state that
the environment should always be at
heart to everyone as it is there for each and everyone of us to take care off
as we all use it every day wherever we are, be it at work or where we spend our
free time.

Ms Venera Micallef, Mayor of
Had-Dingli noted that recyclable collection has increased over the last two
years and the Scheme and the Local Council have now agreed on a new benchmark to be reached by the end of 2015.
She also stated that Had-Dingli is one of those Local Councils who is not
effected by demographic changes and as such could be handled in a more
constructive manner to make sure that even more community residents come on
board to recycle not only to reach legal obligations but to also meet moral obligations.

Had-Dingli Local Council currently
collects 2.6 tons of recyclables weekly with a new target now set at 3.6 tons
weekly. In 2013 The Local Council of Had-Dingli reached a per capita collection
of 35.58kg annually. It is also to be noted that in the year 2013 residents
have also sent to landfill 893 tons of mixed waste which is under the
allocation set by Wasteserv Malta Limited, an allocation of 958tons. Such a
feat is only achieved by a few Local Councils only.

Green Mt is
an Authorised Packaging Waste Compliance Scheme, a fully owned subsidiary of
the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, GRTU, permitted by the
Competent Authority MEPA, and set up with the aim of meeting environmental
obligations on behalf of its producer members 
within the Business Community. 

Green Mt can
be contacted during office hours on 21496965/66.

On 29
September, Commissioner Reicherts was pleased to report that, since October
2010, the share of women in boards of publicly listed companies had risen by
7.6 points, reaching the unprecedented percentage of 18.6%.

On Friday 10
October, the European Union justice ministers agreed on part of the data
protection regulation reform. This is great news for SMEs as the exemption for
businesses with fewer than 250 employees is in the text agreed on. As a result,
SMEs and microbusinesses will not have to appoint an independent data
protection officer or undertake privacy impact assessments.