Author: SME Chamber

During a special event held in
Brussels, seven EU associations launched ‘The Supply Chain Initiative' with the
aim of ensuring fairness in commercial relations along the food supply chain.
In November 2011, members of The
Supply Chain Initiative agreed on a set of Principles of Good Practice,
including a list of examples of fair and unfair practices in vertical trading
relationships.

These were warmly welcomed by the High Level Forum for a Better
Functioning Food Supply Chain of the European Commission and subsequently, a
voluntary Framework for their implementation and enforcement was adopted in
January 2013.  Since then, all companies
involved in the food supply chain have been encouraged to formally sign up and
implement the Initiative.  The hope is
that EU policy-makers will give the Initiative a chance to deliver and
meanwhile, for those not yet on board, the door remains firmly open for other
stakeholders to join.  

82 companies from across the entire
EU have expressed their intention to register. Half of these are local
companies. Taking into account the subsidiaries of international groups, 457
operating companies are signed up. 

Existing EU measures for the
apiculture sector have helped EU producers to maintain production of high
quality honey in the EU, despite a difficult context with rising production
costs, threats to bee survival and fierce international competition by honey
imports from third countries, according to a Commission report published today.

GRTU is currently in discussions with
Malta Enterprise, the Ministry for Energy and the Conservation of water and the
Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Business in order to find
solutions that could mitigate the loss of the ERDF scheme. We believe that
since all sides have good intentions, a practical solution should be found
shortly, which results would outway the benefits of the suspended ERDF scheme
itself.

GRTU highlights the priorities
for its members and calls for improvements in the administration of EU funds – GRTU Malta Chamber of SMEs has
replied to the public consultation on the ‘Programming of European Funds for
Malta 2014-2020' with a comprehensive document which outlined the priorities
expressed by its members and also how decisive improvements were needed in the
way funds were administered.

This follows an intensive internal
consultation carried out with GRTU members where two consultation meetings were
held, one in Malta and one in Gozo, where GRTU explained Government's vision
and guidelines as outlined in the public consultation document and gathered feedback
from members. The majority of enterprises present for the consultation
expressed their disappointment at some stage or another when having touched
with funds and incentives in the past. Enterprises still have a very negative
perception of EU funds and for many their experiences at one point or another
has turned sour.

In order to make serious improvements
to the next programming period that will run for 7 years, GRTU has called for
greater assistance and specialized helpdesks to assist enterprises in accessing
funds and incentives, reduction of bureaucracy and a simplification exercise
across the board, greater transparency and accountability with regards to the
why projects are approved or refused and having the criteria clearly outlined
in black on white and not having to depend on the whims of an adjudicator. GRTU
also called for the authorities and those responsible to adhere to set
deadlines for issuing reimbursements and holding appeals, where required.

We have welcomed Government's
approach in involving the private sector, something mentioned throughout the
consultation document. GRTU has requested a mix of financial instruments
including grants, loan guarantees and loans with an advantageous interest rate,
etc… to cater for the various needs of enterprises. Enterprises want more
assistance and incentives related to e-commerce and exports. We want basic
schemes targeted at the private sector related to subsidised employment and
training and investment in upgrading machinery and purchasing of renewable
energy mechanisms to be made permanent as enterprises cannot time their
investment needs with the short period during which schemes are made available.
GRTU and its members also called for assistance for enterprises to restructure and
upgrade to required or international standards.

GRTU supported Government's intention
to alleviate the problem of traffic congestion by assisting alternative means
of transport including transport by sea and called to include the problem of
parking in the strategy as well as incentivise the use and conversion of empty
buildings into accommodation facilities, child and elderly care centres and
offices, which could boost our localities and alleviate traffic in the
traditional centres. GRTU called for increased assistance for start-ups and
helping business ideas to materialise. We called on more incentives for
enterprises to invest in locally produced products of high quality, supporting
investments in agri-tourism and supporting the crafts sector and the restructuring
of crafts centres.

Gozo enterprises members of GRTU
asked for funds to go to increased transport facilities between the two islands
as well as special assistance that would facilitate and alleviate the cost of
transport of goods and services. It was however emphasized that these were just
incentives aimed at mitigating the current situation which should be resolved
with a permanent link between Malta and Gozo in the future.

Transport Malta will be introducing a
Certificate of Professional Competence for Professional Drivers (Driver CPC),
based on the requirements of European Union Directive 2003/59/EC.

The Driver CPC consists of two
distinct elements:

The Driver CPC involves two parts:

a) The initial qualification which
is obtained following a training programme        and
requires the driver to pass theoretical and practical tests and is compulsory
for all those     drivers who obtained
their driving licence in category C or C1 after the 10th of September 2009;

b) The ongoing periodical training
of 35 hours every five years, applicable to all drivers of goods carrying vehicles
in the above-mentioned category, irrespective of when they obtained their C or
C1 category driving licence.

Transport Malta will be subsidising
the first ongoing periodical training programme that will be provided by a
number of training organisations that were approved by Transport Malta to
deliver this programme. In this respect Transport Malta is urging all operators
holding a licence for the International Transport of Goods and invites them to
submit a list of all the drivers engaged by them in the transport of goods by
vehicles having a gross vehicle weight greater than 3,500kg. Such list shall
include the following details:

Name
and surname;

ID
Card number

 Address.

Telephone
number

Those drivers who already have the
CPC qualification should not be included in this list.

As a holder of a licence for the
International Transport of Goods, you are invited  to send 
the requested information at your earliest convenience. You may submit
such information either by hand at Transport Malta offices in Sa Maison, by
post or via email on .

For more information on this Driver
CPC you may contact TM on 25608 165 or on the afore-mentioned email address.
You may also contact GRTU on 21 230459 or on email address

Wara laqgha kordjali li l-GRTU kellha
mas-Sur Charles Azzopardi, Sindku, Kunsill Lokali Rabat gie deciz li ssir
laqgha ghas sidien tal-hwienet fejn jigi discuss fid-dettal l-progett ta'
tisbiegh gewwa Triq Santa Rita. Il-Laqgha ser issir fl-ewwel gimgha ta' Ottubru
fejn s-Sindku jispjega fid-dettal x-xoghlijiet li ser jsiru.

Il-GRTU flimkien mall-Kunsill
jistiednu lis-sidien tal-hwienet sabiex jattendu ghall-laqgha fejn jkollhom
l-opportunita' li jippartecipaw u jaghti l-opinjonijiet u proposti taghhom.
X-xoghlijiet ta' tisbieh ser jibdew fl-2014 u ser jiehdu ammont sostanzjali ta'
zmien sabiex jitlestew.

Raprezentanti mill-GRTU flimkien
mall-Kunsill ser jzuru l-hwienet l-gimgha d-diehla.

A few hundred metres away from the
idyllic village of San Lawrenz Ghawdex, lays the Ta' Dbiegi Crafts Village. During a recent visit to this Crafts
Village, GRTU officials met most of the owners and discussed their current
problems and heard their suggestions for improvements. GRTU took up immediate
action with the relevant Authorities in this regard.

First and foremost this Crafts
Village, which is well kept, should remain exclusively that what it is intended
for, a Crafts Village. I enjoyed watching Katrin at work in her pottery shop
which is her livelihood. She says however that things were not always easy and
it was her love for the arts that has kept her going through thin and thick.
Whilst working to produce her pottery, she stops on and off to deal with
customers as they wander through her well organised outlet. Although one must
say, I was told that this September she did not see the same business level as
last years. Katrin complains about the never introduced "night tariff" as her
electricity bills for operating her ovens are exorbitant.

Whilst she understands that there
could be more footpath at the Crafts Village, she is annoyed by the fact that a
number of owners, a minimal number, have swayed away from the concept of
on-site craft manufacturing and selling. They have moved to importing and just
retailing, which without fail leaved a sordid impact not only on her turnover
but also on the Crafts Village as a whole. It goes even further with comments
on the Trip Advisor calling it is a small ‘flea market', which is not the case
at all.

GRTU, working hand in hand with the
owners, is taking steps to ascertain that current problems faced are tackled
with the Authorities, something not east as one can expect.

As a small example, the signage
outside Ta' Dbiegi, has been in need of replacement for many years. Doesn't
cost much, but who is responsible? The Ministry of Gozo said that the sign has
been ordered and should be ready soon. We hope soon is not far away. Delays are
normal even for a trivial sign, let alone other issues!

Who will drive this mentality change
in Government Ministries, Departments or Authorities? The message is clear.

We are now at a time where patience
is no longer a virtue. A number of issues relating to enforcement of Packaging
Waste Compliance have been left on the shelf. This has drastically affected the
sustainability of Green MT. We have over and over again outlined
that a level market playing field does not exist in this sector.

All this because Government
Authorities or Departments do not fork out a cent for recovery of materials and
neither do they sustain in any way the operation. Their attitude is that as
long as things are done there is no problem. Things only start changing when
the virtue of patience dies away and action is taken by the scheme.

1.  We have long requested MEPA,
the Competent Authority to write to the current 600 known "free riders" who did
comply to the legislation, to join an Authorised Scheme within 60 days.

2.  Draft Legislation to amend the
Packaging and Packaging Waste Legislation was drawn up in September 2012 and a
public consultation carried out in November 2012. The legislative draft changes
required those producers that sold consumer goods to the market to declare
consumer packaging with a scheme. This again would make sure that what Green MT
or Greenpak Co-op collect today, is actually being paying for by someone.

We are sure that the above issues can
be put in place by those who are duty bound to put them in place.

Time is running out, and fast, and if
by end October 2013, the above two issues are not addressed and put in place,
Green MT, will cease recovery of all material from bring in sites, including
their upkeep. We will thereon continue to collect the grey bag only.

Early coming week, we have a planned
meeting with Dr. Michael Farrugia who is responsible for MEPA. We duly hope
that this will end in a fruitful result. If this is not the case, we will take
all the necessary action to make sure that we go to sleep at night, and those
who are responsible stay awake.  

It is very good news for GRTU and its
members that the JEREMIE scheme has been extended and will now translate in €10
million for around 100 SMEs. Through the consultation process carried out
between August and September by GRTU on the next funding period, members
emphasized that a mix of grants and financial engineering instruments,
including loans at advantageous conditions, would be beneficial for their
investment needs.

Those that in the last years have
succeeded to benefit from the JEREMIE scheme have in fact reported very
positive experiences linked also to the advantageous conditions of the scheme
and its less rigid nature. It has been reported that by the end of June 2013,
533 Maltese SMEs had benefitted from the JEREMIE loan facility.

The European Investment Bank had a
lot of praise for Malta on the success it achieved in the administration of
JEREMIE. It is calculated that the scheme has so far given rise to an
investment within the economy of €83.5million, from the initial investment of
€10million from ERDF and national funds.

GRTU is informed that the scheme will
continue to run in same way and will also be offered by BOV that has once again
been confirmed as the local partner following the usual call for interest. The
new monetary injection has been topped up to the current allocation and
interested enterprises can start enquiring and proposing investment projects
with immediate effect. Interested enterprises can call BOV JEREMIE section on
22753303 or 22755779.