Author: SME Chamber

Christmas season is a time when more people than usual
are sending parcels, and the delivery market is being put to the test.

The
draft Commission Implementing Regulation on mandatory origin labelling for pig,
poultry and sheep and goat meat was approved by member state experts at their
meeting earlier this month.

Providing
additional voluntary information is also allowed under the new rules. Such
information includes flags or symbols, information on regions such as
"Bavaria", "Jabugo" or "Scotland", or an origin reference in the product name,
e.g. "Italian" or "French". The Commission is now expected to adopt the draft
regulation in the coming days. The Regulation would apply from 1 April 2015
onwards.

St
Margaret College Girls Secondary held its Celebration Day last week during
which Green MT deemed it fit to present an award to this Girls Secondary for
placing first in Green MT's "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" campaign. They placed
first from all participating schools in Malta.

The
competition, held over a period of eight weeks, in the last school semester of
2012/ 2013 recovered over 110 tons. St Margaret College Girls Secondary
recovered 42kg per capita per student in this period.

The
College asked Green MT to provide funds for a Greenhouse, a request which was
acceded to. Whilst presenting the Award to the School, Mr Paul Abela, Director
of Green MT and GRTU President thanked the students for their contribution to
society through the recovery of recyclable materials. He noted that the
logistics for all these collections was eventually paid for by the business
community.

Green
MT has an educational obligation through its permit and within its financial
boundaries will do its best to continue such campaigns.

Green
MT operates recovery of recyclable waste from 33 Local Councils covering 45% of
the Maltese population. The scheme has just over 1,300 financial contributors
as producer member. Green MT can be contacted on 79002263 or 99041462 during
office hours.

The
Micro Invest Scheme is once again open. The scheme will support This scheme
supports micro enterprises  and the self-employed (employing up to 30
persons as at 30th November 2012) that invest in their business, innovate,
expand, implement compliance directives and/or develop their operations.

These
enterprises will be supported through a tax credit equivalent to 40% of
eligible expenditure. An additional bonus of 20% (total 60% tax credit) applies
to undertakings operating from Gozo. The tax credit is capped at €25,000 per
undertaking.

It
covers costs incurred and paid for between 1^st January 2013 and
31^st December
2013 for:

Applications
for assistance will be received until the 28^th March 2014.    

Further
information and documents can be accessed on: http://www.maltaenterprise.com/en/support/microinvest

Please
do not hesitate to contact GRTU should you need further information.

Micro Guarantees Scheme

The
Micro Guarantees scheme shall provide eligible undertakings with the possibility
to access funds required through a guarantee of up to 80% on loans for the
acquisition of tangible investments, intangible assets and working capital
linked to such acquisitions. The Micro Guarantee may only be used to support a
new loan, used to finance investment costs approved by the Malta Enterprise,
which in total do not exceed €100,000.  

The
applicant must employ at least one employee (who may be the self-employed
person) and must not have employed more than 50 persons (full time equivalent)
at any instance during the previous 12 months.

Both
the project being proposed, and the loan itself, should be linked to one or
more of the following outcomes:

1. Establishment of new business.

2. New or improved products, services or processes.

3. Adoption of new technology.

4. Reduction in costs.

5. Increase in sales.

6. Retention and/or generation of new/additional
jobs.

7. Increased productivity.

8. Potential of growth in foreign markets.

The
guaranteed loan should have a distinct term with a predetermined fixed
repayment schedule and may in no case exceed ten years. Interest rates on all
facilities shall be in accordance with the policies of the bank issuing the
loan.

Further
info: http://www.maltaenterprise.com/en/support/micro-guarantee-scheme

Armenia,
Bolivia, Cabo Verde, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Georgia, Mongolia, Paraguay, Peru and
the latest addition Pakistan, have been granted what is called GSP Plus status
for trading with the EU. The benefits of the GSP Plus in these countries will
start to apply from January 1, 2014.

The
Annual General Meeting of the Lotto Receivers Union earlier this week discussed
in detail amendments to the current Statute.

The
last amendments were affected in the 80s (eighties) and as such internal
discussions had been going on for over a year, so that a new Statute would be
approved by this Annual General Meeting.

The
new Statute now caters for the realities of today whilst ascertaining the
vested rights of the past for many lotto receivers. The amendments amongst
other addressed the Pensions and Benefit fund which now have been addressed to
the needs of the current day.

In
addition changes were made to the rights of lotto receivers who pass away
before pensionable age and also for those who are receiving a Government
pension.

The
amendments and changes were coordinated through LRU President, Alfred Muscat
and Secretary Benny Agius who contributed wholeheartedly to make sure that the
Statute is presented for approval at this meeting.

The
Statute was approved by the Annual General Meeting and the President thanked
one and all for their contribution and advised that a full copy will be sent by
post to all LRU members.

The
Lotto Receivers Union is an affiliate Association of the GRTU Malta Chamber of
Small and Medium Enterprises.

On 11 December, the EESC plenary
session backed the Commission's proposals on card-based payments, but wants EU
citizens to be able to make basic electronic payments cheaply and easily over
the internet, both nationally and across borders.

Debit cards, credit cards and all manner of
mobile and electronic payment schemes are coming to dominate trade, but EU
regulations on payments have struggled to keep up with the rapid pace of
change. "The argument on how to start dismantling the high cost structure
imposed by the card payment services that dominate the plastic money market has
been going on for far too long. In addition, the same cost structure is rapidly
becoming more frequent in mobile payment services", said Vincent Farrugia
(Employers Group, Malta), rapporteur for the EESC opinion on Payment services.

Lower interchange
fees

The new payments package, which introduces a
cap on interchange fees and updates, will go some way towards improving
transparency and security, removing national divergences and aligning legal
rules in the payment system.

However, the Committee recommended that caps
for both credit and debit payments be lower than those proposed. Furthermore,
scrapping interchange fees altogether for debit cards would further open up
e-commerce in Europe and benefit consumers and the economy. "Capping
interchange charges should be made effective immediately for payments using
credit cards and debit cards in the domestic market, and not merely for
cross-border purchases", adds Vincent Farrugia.

The EESC also wants to include the same level
of caps for commercial or business cards.

Safer online shopping

More and more internet users in the EU are
shopping online. However, only 9.3% of traders actually sell across EU borders,
and 44% of Europeans say they do not buy abroad because they are uncertain of
their rights. Payment costs and delivery problems, as well as legal and
security concerns, are holding internet business back. The EESC believes that
the new proposals will mean shoppers get better, cheaper internet payment
services with less risk of online fraud and disputes.

These new proposals will also promote the
emergence of new players and the development of innovative mobile and internet
payment systems. The proposals also strengthen consumer rights on international
money transfers. EU payment laws should not just respond to today's market
needs, they should also look ahead to the coming years.

GRTU Hospitality and Leisure
Division President Philip Fenech this week met the police together with the
Paceville night entertainment business operators. The meeting was held with
police Assistant Commissioner Raymond Zammit. He introduced police Superintendant
Carmelo Bartolo, who is new to this district.

During the meeting
arrangements for the coming two weeks of celebrations were discussed. This is
the busiest time for this industry. More coordination between the managers and
staff of establishments and the police was encouraged for smoother operations
of the area of Paceville.

Traffic management was
one of the main subjects discussed. Both the GRTU and the police appealed for
people to try to reduce traffic congestion as much as possible through car
pooling and the use of buses as well as other types of transport that would
diminish the amount of vehicles on the road.

GRTU also fully endorses
the zero tolerance for drinking and driving and encourages people going out to
follow the designated driver principle.

Philip Fenech personally
appealed to people to plan ahead so that they can be at their chosen spot early
to avoid disappointment as some travelers might be caught in traffic jams as
this sometimes was the case in previous years.

Prime
Minister Joseph Muscat met MEUSAC core group members, amongst which GRTU, where
he gave an introduction and Malta's views on the issues that will be discussed
during the next European Council meeting that would be held in the following
day and gather the views of civil society on these important issues.

The
topics on the Council's agenda are the European Common and Security Policy, the
Economic and Monetary Unions, Economic and Social Policy and the report of the
Task Force on Energy and the Mediterranean.

Dr
Muscat spoke at length on the issue of immigration and that there was some
positive impetus especially on proposals related to failed asylum seekers would
be returned to their country of origin. He also said that migrants who landed
in Malta whose status was dubious,  and
who may hail from extremist groups, could pose a security threat to both Malta
and the EU.

The
Prime Minister also mentioned a very important issue that Malta was concerned
with related to contractual arrangements the EU was proposing that each member
state would enter into. It proposed that instead of issuing specific country
recommendations it would bind the specific Member State (MS) to the specific
recommendations contractually. The reasoning behind this was mainly that the specific
recommendations for some MS stayed the same year after year and this would
commit the MS further to make the necessary changes. Dr Muscat however said
Malta, and not just Malta is concerned because first of all on a matter of
principle a contract should be something that two parties agree to and not
something dictated and on certain subject the MS would need more flexibility
and time. He gave an example with the pension system which was something easy
to sort.

Dr
Muscat also touched on issues of solidarity, especially financial solidarity
and where would these funds come from and on issues of sovereignty saying that
Malta had no problem with more EU involvement but suggested the EU leaves
Member States to decide on certain issues, such as tax-related ones for
instance.

Present
for the meeting where GRTU President Paul Abela and EU Desk Coordinator Abigail
Psaila Mamo. Mr Abela was first one to intervene and address the Prime
Minister. Mr Abela thanked the prime Minister for the commitment he has shown
to civil society by being there and by once again confirming the Civil Society
Funds given to us as civil society which was essential for us to maintain our
work at EU level and communicate the EU to our members.

Mr
Abela also spoke about access to finance and mentioned the situation of the
banking sector and that we were lucky during the crises and that we appreciate
that Government has expressed its commitment to investigate certain practices
that we feel constitute an abuse of dominant position. In line with the
investigations going on around all the EU the Maltese Government will also
carry out its research. Mr Abela also called on the Government to establish a
development bank.

Mr
Abela told the Prime Minister that the environment should be given due
importance and the best opportunities should be sought out for the betterment
of SMEs and there were many opportunities. GRTU is doing its part leading its
members in this area and even issued a specific scheme to better the service
the consumer if given by the sector.

Finally
Mr Abela augured the Prime Minister the best of luck for the meeting ahead and
that he would get the best deals for Malta.