Author: SME Chamber

Europort
Romania, a small yet well-known maritime networking event will celebrate its
10th anniversary from 13 – 15 May 2014.

The
event will be held in Constanta and aims to strengthen relationships with the
management of shipyards, sea and river ship owners, marine equipment trading
companies, port managements, salvage companies, navy authorities and marine
designers from Romania and surrounding Black Sea countries.

Romania
has 10 large shipyards involved in both new buildings and repair &
maintenance of a.o. bulk carriers, tankers, container vessels, multi-purpose
ships, inland navigation vessels, tug boats, freighters, patrol boats, LPG
carriers, offshore supply vessels, naval ships and dredgers.

Romania
has kept a vivid maritime industry, even in times of crisis, and largely
depends on imported equipment. This offers good opportunities for international
suppliers in the field of propulsion, automation, deck equipment, integrated
bridge management, hydraulics, navigation and communication, dredging, electrical
systems, ventilation and air conditioning, propellers, pumps etc.

The
event has a maximum capacity for  around
35 companies. Participation includes ready to use stands, ship yard visit, BBQ,
lunches and networking receptions amongst others. Also you can book the package
including hotel and airport transfer.

For more
information about the program and participation packages visit: www.ahoy.nl/digibrochure/europort-romania<http://www.ahoy.nl/digibrochure/eu

The national
minimum wage of part-time employees shall be calculated pro rata at the same
hourly rate of a comparable whole-time employee in accordance with the relevant
Wage Regulation Order (WRO). In cases where a WRO is not applicable, the pro
rata is calculated using the weekly National Minimum Wage applicable for a
comparable whole-time employee, divided by forty.

Minimum Wages for 2014

18 years and
over €165.68

17 years
€158.90

Under 17 years
€156.06

Commissions

The wage
payable to the employee can consist of a commission so long as the minimum
weekly wage is guaranteed and such minimum wage is paid at regular intervals
not exceeding four weeks in arrears.           

Statutory Bonus

The full
statutory bonus payable every six months is as follows:

End of June €
135.10

From the 15th
till the 23rd December € 135.10

When calculating
part of the bonus it can be worked out at €0.74 per calendar day including
Saturdays and Sundays.

Weekly Allowance

The full
statutory Weekly Allowance payable every six months is as follows:

End of March
€121.13

End of
September €121.13

When calculating
part of the weekly allowance it amounts to € 4.66 per working week, or a
proportion thereof.

Cost of Living Increase

The cost of
living increase is obligatory. A full-time employee is entitled to the full
increase, while a part-time employee is entitled to part of the cost of living
increase in proportion to the hours worked.

This is a gentle reminder that the
Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee (MEUSAC), together with the Malta
Environment & Planning Authority and the Ministry for Sustainable
Development, the Environment and Climate Change will be organising a
consultation session on the proposed EU directive to reduce the consumption of
plastic bags.

The
consultation session on the ‘Proposal for a Directive of the European
Parliament and of the Council Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging
waste to reduce the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags' will focus on the EU's plan to tackle
environmental degradation caused by plastic littering as well as the
inefficient use of this resource. Moreover the session will discuss potential
national reduction targets, in the form of economic instruments or market
restrictions, aimed at reducing the consumption of lightweighet plastic carrier
bags.

The
consultation session will be held on Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at 2pm, at Europe House,
254, St Paul's Street, Valletta.

Should you be interested in attending but haven't registered yet, kindly apply on

by not later than Tuesday, January 21, 2014 at noon.

There are
discussions currently ongoing in order to address the problem of online returns
because of wrong sizes (on clothes)". 

The
Commission's report of 25 September 2013, concludes that "size labelling is
being addressed by either voluntary schemes or standards" and, thus, do not
need to be addressed in the Textile Regulation. Moreover, based on the findings
of a study on textile labelling, the report mentions that "limited benefits are
expected from a mandatory system as compared with a uniform EU-wide
standard-based system".

However,
a consultant in charge of a study on textile labelling identified the "problem
of online returns because of wrong sizes", with its associated costs which are
supported by both customers (approximately 1/3) and retailers (remaining 2/3).
That study also suggests that an "important benefit from a standard-based
sizing system" would be the "facilitation of online sales of clothing and
textile products and the reduction in returns of items bought online"

As such
it is being assumed that a standard-based size coding system would have the
potential to contribute to possibly minimising the percentage of returns in
on-line sales (due to wrong size) and that ‘virtual fitting' tools (e.g.
scanning facilities/rooms or internet-based techniques) would only partially
cope with this issue. It is the Commission's understanding that reducing
returns would be beneficial to both consumers and retailers/manufacturers.
Furthermore, such a size coding system complementary to product labelling or
marking would contribute to increase customers' confidence and, as a consequence,
the volume of on-line sales of clothing.

If you
have any comments/suggestions, please send your input to by
latest on 27th of January 2014.

This year will see many important laws enter into force that
will affect the daily lives of millions of Europeans. From January these
include a European patent to boost innovation and rules on mercury and
electrical waste. Later there will also be legislation on consumer protection,
intellectual property and environmental protection as well as rules to shape
the EU's banking union and ensure the free movement of workers.

Intellectual property rights will be better protected
by extending the number of possible infringement customs officials can check
for at the border and by introducing new rules on the jurisdiction of courts
and the recognition of judgments. These will be implemented in a number of
member states starting January.

The EU aid volunteers programme will create
opportunities for about 10,000 people to help out in humanitarian operations
across the globe the coming seven years.

Erasmus+, the revamped version of Europe's popular
education programme, will enable more than four million young people to study
or train abroad from now until 2020 thanks to its budget of more than €14
billion

Legislation to ensure electrical and electronic
equipment is recycled better enters into force in February and rules to make
tumble driers more energy efficient in November.

It is the end of the line for all old mercury
thermometers and other measuring devices in April. The EU aims to reduce the
amount of the highly toxic metal used as it forms a health hazard.

Consumers will benefit from better information on
their food, including nutrition information on processed foods, origin labeling
of unprocessed meat, while allergens such as peanuts and milk will have to be
highlighted in the list of ingredients.

In 2014 there will also be new legislation on how to
deal with failing banks and investment firms, protect people's savings and make
it easier for Europeans to work in another part of the EU.

In addition there will be new rules on tobacco
products to discourage people from taking up smoking and on data protection to
ensure our personal information online is better protected.

GRTU has on Sunday 12^th January 2014 held its Sixty Fifth Annual General
Meeting. During the AGM the minutes of last year's meeting were read and
approved, GRTU's President Paul Abela gave a speech, a detailed presentation
was given of the annual report, members put forward their views, the annual
accounts were approved and the auditor was confirmed.

In his address President Abela said that like all other years
2013 was a very busy year for GRTU. GRTU was kept busy with the usual affairs
of representing our members as well as other challenges which at the same time
GRTU sees as an opportunity, including the change in Government, the first year
of implementation of the EU funded project of Europe Direct and the retirement
of Vincent Farrugia as GRTU Director General.

Mr Abela continued by saying that we already see a number of
issues that will be keeping GRTU busy during 2014 which included:

The issue of
Opening Hours

Employment
Schemes for Enterprise

Helping members
restructure to become more competitive in the scenario of increased competition
from Malta and abroad and also online shopping

Make increased
use of EU funds for GRTU and its members

Working and
insisting with Government to tackle issues related to traffic and parking

Working and
insisting with Government to take concrete action on unfair competition

Working and
insisting with Government to introduce an increased number of GRTU's proposals
for Budget 2014

Working and
insisting with Government to implement the Small Business Act in its entirety

The President also appealed to all GRTU members to take more
interest in the work of GRTU and to involve themselves in GRTU.

During the AGM the members of the GRTU Council thanked Mr
Paul Abela for ably continuing to manage the office, following the retirement
of the Director General, which has involved a large time commitment from his
side. They thanked the staff for continuing to give their best, through their
professionalism and ability, and making sure to tackle the issues faced by GRTU
and its member. The Council also thanked Vincent Farrugia for the work he has
done in favour of enterprise during the 20 years he was Director General at
GRTU.

Following interventions made by individual members present,
Mr Paul Abela invited the candidates to each briefly address the floor
and
following this he opened the possibility of voting. There were 5
individuals
from last year's Executive Council that are due for election and 4 new
candidates. From a total of 9 candidates 6 have been elected by GRTU
members.
The 18 members of the GRTU Executive Council for 2014 are the following:
Abela Paul, Azzopardi Emanuel, Borg Maurice, Camilleri Sergio, Cutajar
Patrick, Debono Mario, Desira Emanuel, Fenech Azzopardi Therese, Fenech
Philip, Galea Michael, Galea Stephen, Gauci Noel, Haber Joan,
Mizzi Marcel, Vella Josette, Vella Salvu, Zammit Karmenu u Zerafa
Joseph.

Furthermore yesterday Paul Abela was reappointed as president
of the GRTU's executive national council for 2014. The rest of the council was
also announced, and the executive roles are: Philip Fenech as deputy president;
Marcel Mizzi as vice president for finance and administration; Joan Haber as
vice president for sections; Sergio Camilleri as vice president for localities;
Michael Grech as vice president for international relations and Mario Debono as
vice president for development. 

L-Ewwel u qabel kollox nixtieq nilqaghkhom ghal-hamsa
u sittin Laqgha Generali
Annwali tal-GRTU u nenfasizza li l-GRTU tapprezza l-isforz li kull wiehed minnkom
ghamel biex ikun hawnhekk maghna illum.
L-2013 ghal darba ohra kienet sena mimlija sfidi u sena ta` xoghol bla waqfien ghall-GRTU. Kien hemm
l-isfidi tas-soltu li zammewna okkupati sew fix-xoghol taghna. Dak li
nirrapprezentaw l-interess tal-intraprizi z-zghar.

Kien hemm ukoll
tibdil fl-amministrazzjoni ta' Malta li nvolviet preparamenti u addattament min
naha taghna biex nibdew nahdmu ma' individwi li bosta minnhom qabel konna nahdmu maghhom fil-pozizzjoni li kienu jokkupaw
fl-oppozizzjoni. It-Tibdil fl-amministrazzjoni gabet nies godda, metodi ta`
hidma godda u wkoll modi godda kif jigu indirizzati l-prijoritajiet.

Il-GRTU preparat ruhha b'ricerka, laqghat ta` introduzzjoni u briefings mal-Ministri u s-Segretarji
Parlamentari godda. Jien u shabi fil-kunsill kellna laqgha tajba hafna mal-Prim
Ministru Joseph Muscat fil-bidu ta` din il-Legislatura, li fiha kien hemm ukoll l-maggoranza tal-Ministri u
s-Segretarji
Parlamentari.

It-Tibdil fl-amministrazzjoni involviet ukoll ammont
konsiderevoli ta` ittardjar sakemm ix-xoghol rega' qabad ir-ritmu
tas-soltu izda issa l-affarijiet inizzjali tlestew
u x-xoghol jinstab f'livell tajjeb.

Sfida ohra aktar tard din is-sena kienet l-irtirar tad-Direttur Generali
tal-GRTU, Vince Farrugia. Kif bosta minnkom jafu s-Sur
Farrugia okkupa l-pozizzjoni ta` Direttur Generali tal-GRTU ghal ghoxrin
sena li matulhom ghamel hafna xoghol
siewi ghall-GRTU. Semmejt il-kelma ‘sfida' ghaliex bidla ta` pozizzjoni tant
importanti go organizzazzjoni bhal taghna hi bidla kbira u tinvolvi hafna
xoghol biex il-GRTU u l-membri taghha jibqghu jigu affetwati bl-ahjar mod
possibli.

Din hi r-raguni ewlenija ghaliex bhalissa
l-pozizzjoni ta` Direttur Generali tal-GRTU ghadha ma gietx mimlija. Kif
diga ghidt din hi
pozizzjoni importanti hafna u ghaldaqstant tinvolvi hafna hsieb u
ricerka biex l-ghazla
tkun l-ahjar wahda ghall-Assoccjazzjoni u ghal membri taghha.

Filwaqt li f'isem l-Kunsill tal-GRTU u l-membri taghha nirringrazzja lil Vince Farrugia
tax-xoghol siewi li ghamel matul dawn is-snin kollha, ghandha wkoll naraw din is-sitwazzjoni
bhala opportunita' u inharsu l-quddiem b'herqa lejn dhul ta` persuna ta` kwalita gholja u li bl-ghajnuna
taghha l-GRTU u l-membri taghha jkomplu javvanzaw bl-ahjar mod possibli.

Tistaqsuni, allura x'inhu jigri bhalissa? Bhalissa jiena bhala President u
shabi l-membri tal-Kunsill dhalna aktar fix-xoghol ta` kulljum tal-GRTU li
kienet minnha innifisha esperjenza siewja hafna u li bi hsiebna nzommu dan
is-sehem anke wara li Direttur Generali gdid ikun f'postu. L-Istaff abbli u
professjonali tal-GRTU komplew jahdmu bhal ma dejjem kienu. Flimkien konna kapaci
nkomplu x-xoghol b'mod fluwidu minghajr, ma l-membri taghna ihossuhom li nqassnihom minhabba din il-kwistjoni.

Direttur Generali hu importanti u n-nuqqas tieghu jinhass. Ghaldaqstant
jien u shabi fil-kunsill qeghdin u ser inkomplu nahdmu biex din il-pozizzjoni
tintelgha bl-aktar mod adekwat.

Sfida li fl-istess hin kienet ukoll opportunita' matul is-sena 2013 hija
l-implimentazzjoni tal-ewwel sena tal-Europe Direct. Dan hu kuntratt li rbahna
mall-Kummissjoni Ewropea ghal-hames snin u li beda japplika mill-bidu tal-2013.
Dan jinvolvi xoghol fejn l-GRTU tinghata finanzi mill-Ewropa sabiex thaddem
ufficcju li jkun jopera bhala estensjoni tal-Kummisjoni Ewropea biex tilhaq
c-cittadini Ewropej b'mod dirett fuq livell reggjonali milli minn Brussell.

Sar hafna xoghol f'dan ir-rigward, u ghad li kienet l-ewwel sena ta`
implimentazzjoni, u ghaldaqstant tghallimna hafna minnha, din is-sena bi hsiebna ntejbu fuq dak li hdimna s-sena
l-ohra. Nhossni komdu nghid li l-implimentazzjoni kienet ta` success.

Dettalji tax-xoghol li ghamlet il-GRTU matul l-2013
tistghu ssibuhom
fir-rapport dettaljat li ser niprezentawlkom dalwaqt. Ahna stess qabel
ma
x-xoghol jinghaqad f'rapport wiehed ma nirrejalizzawx l-ammont ta`
xoghol li
jkun sar. Li hu zgur li bhala ufficcjali tal-GRTU kull sena f'din
l-okkazjoni nipprezentaw r-rapport annwali b'certu kburija u sens ta'
sodisfazzjon.

Din is-sena diga' qeghdin naraw numru ta` kwistjonijiet li ser ikunu
importanti hafna u li ser jirrikjedu ammont sostanzjali ta` xoghol
mill-ufficjali tal-GRTU, fosthom:

1.  Il-Kwistjoni tal-hinijiet tal-ftuh tal-hwienet

2.  It-Thaddim tal-iskemi tal-impjieg

4.  Nghinu l-membri jaghmlu aktar uzu u jiehdu vantagg minn
skemi u fondi tal-EU

6.  Nahdmu u ninsitu mal-Gvern biex insibu soluzzjonijiet
relatati mat-traffiku u n-nuqqas ta` parkegg

7.  Nahdmu u ninsistu mal-Gvern biex jiehu passi konkreti u iebsa fuq kompetizzjoni ngusta

8.  Nahdmu u ninstsu mal-Gvern biex aktar proposti li ghamlet
l-GRTU ghall-ahhar Budget jigu implimentati

9.  Sforz dejjem akbar biex lehen l-intrapriza jinstema'
dejjem aktar u b'mod aktar b'sahhtu kull fejn hu possibbli

10. Nahdmu
u ninsistu mall-Gvern biex l-Small
Business Act jigi implimentat b'mod totali u konkret u mhux biss bil-kliem

Il-Lista ma tispicca qatt u din ma tinkludix
is-sorprizi
li jinqalghu matul is-sena, pero ser naghmlu l-almu taghna bhal ma
dejjem ghamilna. Filwaqt li
nirringrazzja lilkom bhala membri taghna tal-involiment u l-interess
muri matul
l-2013, inheggigkom sabiex tinvolvu ruhkom aktar fil-kwistjonijiet li
jinteressawkhom u tinteressaw ruhkhom aktar fix-xoghol li taghmel
il-GRTU.

Kemm tiehdu mill-GRTU jiddependi minnkom u minn kemm
tridu tinteressaw u tinvolvu ruhkom. Ahna qeghdin hawn ghas-servizz taghkom
pero intom l-esperti fin-negozju taghkom u tghixu sitwazzjonijiet u problemi first hand, ghalhekk nheggukom izzommuna qrib taghkom u tigwidawna.

Inhares il-quddiem lejn sena ohra produttiva u pozittiva.
Nghaddu issa ghal prezentazzjoni tar-Rapport Aministrattiv.

The Malta-EU Steering and Action
Committee (MEUSAC), together with the Malta Environment & Planning Authority and the Ministry for Sustainable Development, the
Environment and Climate Change will be organising a consultation session on the proposed EU directive to reduce the consumption of plastic bags.

The consultation session on the ‘Proposal for a Directive of the European
Parliament and of the Council Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging
waste to reduce the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags' will focus on the EU's plan to tackle
environmental degradation caused by plastic littering as well as the
inefficient use of this resource. Moreover the session will discuss potential
national reduction targets, in the form of economic instruments or market
restrictions, aimed at reducing the consumption of lightweighet plastic carrier
bags.

The consultation session will be held on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. at 254, Europe
House, Valletta.

To register send an email on:

Should you be interested in attending kindly reply to
this email by not later than Tuesday,
January 21st, 2014 at noon.

Hon
Roderick Galdes, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal
Welfare endorsed essential amendments to the Animal Welfare Act-

Protection of
Animals offered in Pet Shops from what has originally been proposed after
several meetings with GRTU on behalf of Pet Shop Owners and the Authorities
concerned. The L.N. 244/2013 will come into force on April 2nd 2014.
The
GRTU welcomes the new law as it will indeed mean an increase in the level of
protection of animals and as the Authorities themselves confirmed most of the
pet shops will only need to make minor amendments to facilitate inspection.

The
GRTU also welcomes this law as it will put anyone selling an animal, be it from
a pet shop, a private residence and a website in a position of breach of law
should they not follow any part of it. This will establish a level playing
field which till now is very lacking as pet shops are regularly inspected while
other individuals selling animals are most of the time ignored.

GRTU
emphasises that it is totally in favour of increased animal protection and
condemns without reservation abuse, neglect and cruelty on any species.  GRTU however felt the need to intervene as
certain aspects of the law would have heavily burdened pet shop owners making
certain aspects of their business unsustainable. The GRTU representing pet
shops has managed to convince the authorities to accept  amendments to the law without essentially
reducing the level of increased animal protection which was the aim of this law
in the first place.

The
GRTU has managed to postpone the date of the law coming into force earlier due
to the fact that discussions took long and it was practically impossible as
both from the side of the authorities and the pet shops preparations and
courses have to be undertaken.

The
most important change the GRTU has brought about relates to record keeping.
Record keeping is important as it can shed light on repetitive problems within
an establishment and provide a tracking system, should a problem with a particular
species arise. Record keeping however is burdensome therefore GRTU proposed and
its proposal was accepted to limit record keeping to the species which need it
most as some species enter and exit the pet shop too frequently to keep records
of.

In
fact purchasing records (the invoice) would be kept but when it comes to sale
records they would be kept only for cats, dogs, ferrets, horses, poultry and
all other animals included in the Registration of Exotic Animals Regulations,
2010. This diminished the bureaucratic burden significantly and maintains
record keeping where it is most needed.

Another
bureaucratic and costly burden that was alleviated was the requirement of
having a Veterinary surgeon to verify all the mortalities. This now will be
done only for mortalities
in access of 10% of individual species. Had this requirement been maintained
the Veterinary inspection would cost much more than most of the animals
themselves, jeopardising the sustainability of pet shops. One must also keep in
mind that it is in the best interest of the pet shops to keep all pets alive as
otherwise they would suffer loss of earnings .

Another
difficult requirement in the law was the long acclimatization period for all
animal species when entering the pet shop. These were considered too long and
might have involved the pet shop needing a significant amount of extra space
for quarantine.

From
seven days for any animal, acclimatization period was reduced to 2 days for
birds and others, 12hrs for fish and 0hrs for chickens. A proposal accepted was
to exclude hand reared parrots from the requirement of not selling animals that
are not weaned this because there is a specific niche market that requires
these birds before being weaned due to the bonding of the bird with its owner.

Also
accepted was the change of wording that was proposed which leads to less
stringent cleaning impositions which are now more related to need. Similarly
the working was arranged to replacing of food when needed which means that dry
food can be kept for longer periods than soft food. GRTU also claimed for and
managed to get accepted the inclusion of enclosure sizes  for other species of animals which were not
yet included.

GRTU
emphasised the need to maintain the same level of cooperation GRTU managed to
create between the public and private sector and therefore the cooperation of
pet shops should not be lost by aggressive behaviour. The approach should be
one to guide and teach. The authorities confirmed that inspectors were being
coached into this attitude.

The
GRTU together with the relevant institutions will be working on establishing
the relevant qualification requirements and ensuring that pet shops having
years of experience are treated and assessed on their experience and given the
necessary recognition.

Work
is still ongoing however GRTU would like to thank  Hon Roderick Galdes, Parliamentary Secretary
for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Welfare, Dr Roberto Andrea Balbo –
Director (Veterinary Regulation), Dr Duncan Chetcuti Ganado – Veterinary
Officer and Emanuel Buhagiar – Officer Animal Welfare for the support offered
from their end during a General Meeting held for pet shops on Monday 6th
January 2014.

GRTU
more specifically would like to thank all pet shops who participated in all the
discussions and  Dr Anthony Gruppetta for
the excellent consultation and openness to understand the different situations
and requirements of the sector. It is unfortunately very rare that real consultations
like this one are carried out.