Author: SME Chamber

Experts of renowned organisations have joined forces
last August to address food safety challenges through the global integration of
food safety research, training and policies. 
The initiative, called Collab4Safety (www.collab4safety.eu), received
funding by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union.

As part of this work, a searchable database of food
safety actors working world wide was created. This platform aims to build a
community that can contribute to more sustainable international food safety
cooperation at a long term.

This database had over 200 registries from more than
60 countries in just a couple of weeks. The registration is free. In order to
search in the database, register: http://web.spi.pt/collab4safety/user/register

 The Institute of
Financial Services – Malta (ifs Malta) and Creditinfo are jointly offering a
course on how to develop and improve credit policy. Entitled "Developing an Effective Credit Control Unit"
(whilst avoiding a trip to the Coronary Care Unit), the course is aimed
at professionals and has been specifically designed to encapsulate the levels
of risk involved in providing credit and to establish a better understanding of
how this can be mitigated.

The objective of the
course is to enable participants to understand the risks involved in extending
credit terms, develop a strategy to mitigate credit risks, apply an assessment
on financial statements to assess credit worthiness, understand the risks
involved in international trade transactions and the role banks play and gain insight
on personal skills used for collections.

This training
programme is not only beneficial to the financial services sector but also to
key personnel within businesses who are involved in negotiating credit terms,
collection of debts, and risk assessment / credit scoring.

ifs members registered for the
CPD  may claim learning credits (Category
5) for attending this course. Members of the Malta Institute of Accountants
attending all sessions will be accredited with 12 hours of structured CPE
(incl. 9 hours and 3 hours for the attainment of Professional Development and
Core Competencies respectively).

For further details
and registration kindly contact CreditInfo Malta on telephone 21312344 or
email: .

The latest available Europe-wide testing programme of
pesticides in food has found that over 97% of samples contained residue levels
that fall within permissible limits, said the European Food Safety Authority
(EFSA). The EU Report on Pesticide Residues in Foods also assessed dietary
exposure and concluded the chemical residues on the foods analysed did not pose
a long-term risk to consumer health. The evaluation of short-term dietary
exposure excluded a risk to consumers from 99.6% of food samples. The full
report can be found: www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/1646.htm

Stop testing of cosmetics on animals and their commercialization. The
European Union, by Decree 1223/2009 in force since last March 11, has in fact
imposed a total ban on the sale of cosmetics developed through animal testing
in all Member States of the EU. The
ban however applies only to new products entering the market after 11^th
March 2013. Products already in circulation will remain unaffected.

The
European Union had already banned animal testing in 2004. In 2009 the EU had
also prohibited the marketing of cosmetics tested on animals, with the
exclusion howeverof substances consisting of individual ingredients tested on
animals. These now have also been banned.

According
to the European Health Commissioner Tonio Borg "This is a great
opportunity for Europe to set an example of responsible innovation in cosmetics
without any compromise on consumer safety." The
same Decree also provides that as from 11^th July, the manufacturers
of cosmetic products will be also obliged to provide more detailed information
on the expiry date of the product, a complete list of ingredients, the country
of origin and the presence of "nano" ingredients (ingredients that are
smaller than 100 micron).

Through
such provisions the European Union wants to set an example for the others
countries that still sell these products such as China, India and USA.

This
prohibition is in fact more of an ethical than a commercial turn, to promote
the welfare of animals.

However,
according to Cosmetics Europe, the company that represents the cosmetics
industry within the European market, worth 71 billion euros and 180,000
employees, this prohibition acts as an impediment on innovation.

According
to producers, another problem, , related to security of substances, is that at
the moment there are no alternative methods.

The
European Commission though reassures all that the search for alternative
methods will continue and specifically for this reason has already allocated
approximately € 238 million for the period between 2007 and 2011.

The aim of this seminar is to explain the practical
implications of the SEPA Regulation for businesses, thereby assisting
participants to assess their state of preparedness for migration to SEPA by 1
February 2014, and to guide businesses on the actions which need to be taken to
achieve such compliance within the stipulated timeframe.

Background Information

Following the introduction of euro notes and coin, the
EU banking industry, strongly supported by the European Commission and the
European Central Bank, has been working to develop harmonized schemes for
electronic payments in euro within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The
aim of the SEPA project is to improve the efficiency of cross-border payments
in euro, and turn existing fragmented national markets into a single
pan-European market, adhering to the same set of rules and standards for the
execution of credit transfers and direct debits.

In February 2012, the EU adopted Regulation 260/2012
(the SEPA end-date Regulation), establishing technical and business
requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro, and stipulating 1
February 2014 as the deadline for compliance with these provisions. This means
that as of that date, all existing national schemes for euro credit transfers
and direct debits must be replaced by SEPA-compliant schemes.

Topics on Agenda

The information session will cover the following
topics:

Introduction to SEPA, its
objectives and benefits

Impact of SEPA on
businesses

Progress achieved so far in
Malta

Preparing your business for
SEPA

Migration Migration from an
IT perspective

Venue:
Chamber of Engineers Premises, 127, Professional Centre, Sliema Road, Gzira

Date:
26th March, 2013 at 4pm       FREE OF
CHARGE!

The
European Union's construction sector faces a testing target. Under the EU Waste
Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), it must, by 2020, reuse or recycle at least
70% by weight of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste. In some countries, such as Belgium, Germany and the
Netherlands, says the Belgian sustainable development research institute VITO,
the target is already being exceeded. For the EU construction sector as a
whole, however, a 70% reuse and recycling rate is feasible but will "definitely
not be easy".

Fortunately, research is being done into the reuse and
recycling of construction and demolition waste, 380 million tons of which is
produced in the EU each year – more than 30% of total EU waste.

IRCOW, a project supported by the EU's Seventh
Framework Programme, is analysing through five case studies best practice in
management of construction and demolition waste. VITO is a partner in IRCOW
(Innovative Strategies for High-Grade Material Recovery from Construction and
Demolition Waste).

IRCOW started in January 2011, and will run until the
end of 2013. The case studies cover a wide range of situations commonly faced
by the construction industry.

So far, results have been promising. The case studies
in Bilbao and Poland have been completed.

In Bilbao, a building dating from the 1970s with a
concrete structure and a brick facade was cleared and demolished. Steel
reinforcing bars were separated from the waste concrete and bricks, which were
crushed, generating mounds of recycled aggregate.

The Polish case studied the onsite treatment of hazardous demolition
waste, in particular asbestos. The result is that asbestos is, in effect,
burned out of the waste, and the hazardous material is converted into a
non-hazardous material.

The Swedish case study has also been completed as far
as was possible. It was decided not to demolish the old school building for
economic reasons.

The
project has shown that cellular, or aerated concrete (commonly known as breeze
blocks, or Beton blocks) can be recycled. Previously, this was not recyclable
into concrete because it is lightweight and weakens recycled aggregates.

Although not finished, the IRCOW project has shown so
far that there is substantial scope either for the increased reuse of
construction waste (for example, doors and windows), or for its recycling into
low-grade applications, such as aggregates for building foundations and roads.

The main environmental benefits are avoiding the use
of raw materials, and avoidance of waste being sent to landfill. Reuse and
recycling of construction waste can also be cost effective, especially where
there is infrastructure to manage the waste.

The main obstacles to greater reuse and recycling of
construction waste, according to IRCOW, are the technically acceptable use of
recycled materials for higher-grade applications, and trust in products made
from recycled materials.

To ensure that recycled products can be trusted,
certification schemes might be needed, or recycled materials, such as
aggregates in concrete, will need to be incorporated into existing standards.

Victoria Primary schoolchildren were recently
introduced to the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle campaign organised by Green MT. Green MT is visiting various primary and secondary
schools all over Malta and Gozo to raise awareness about the need to reuse,
reduce and recycle.

Its representatives explained the reasons behind the
campaign to the school-children in order to preserve the environment.

The campaign includes a competition among schools,
whereby children are being encouraged to bring plastic and paper to be
recycled.

The school collecting the largest amount of plastic
and paper per capita in a month's time will win the award.

As part of the green campaign, Daniel Chircop of Zoo
and singer Christina Casolani hosted the programme, which consists of
storytelling and a quiz related to the environment and everything the children
need to know about recycling.

ATTN
Importers of Solar Glass from China – The
proportion of solar glass imports in Malta having Chinese origin has been on
the increase in the last years and it has reached a considerable percentage of
total imports. This issue is thus quite important not only for Maltese
importers because the price of the product might increase but for consumers
because if such prices increase, the products will become more expensive and
less affordable and the availability of such products on the market at
different prices will be limited.

On
28^th February the European Commission launched an anti-dumping
investigation into imports of solar glass from China. The initiation is based
on a complaint lodged by the association EU ProSun Glass, which claims solar
glass from China is being dumped in the EU at prices below market value and
causing material injury to the EU solar glass industry. The investigation could
take up to 15 months, although under trade defense rules the EU could impose
provisional anti-dumping duties within nine months if it considers these
necessary.

Media
are also reporting about a possible anti-subsidy complaint regarding solar
glass from China but at this stage the European Commission only stated that
they have not received such a complaint.

What products are being investigated?

Solar
glass consists of tempered soda-lime-flat-glass, with an iron content of less
than 300 ppm, a solar transmittance of more than 88 % (measured according to
AM1,5 300-2 500 nm), a resistance to heat up to 250 °C (measured according to
EN 15150), a resistance to thermal shocks of Δ 150 K (measured according to EN
15150) and having a mechanical strength of 90 N/mm2 or more (measured according
to EN 1288-3).

Solar
glass is a special glass used mainly, but not exclusively, for the production
of solar panels. It is an essential component not just of solar panels, but of
many solar energy products. This investigation has, however, no direct link
with the probe related to the imports of solar panels launched by the European
Commission last September. This is a stand-alone investigation concerning a
clearly distinct product. The EU solar glass market is valued at less than
€200m.

On
what basis is the European Commission opening this investigation?

The
Commission is legally obliged to open an anti-dumping investigation when it
receives a duly substantiated complaint from EU producers which provides prima
facie evidence that exporting producers from one or more countries outside the
EU are dumping a product on to the EU market and causing material injury to the
EU industry. The Commission concluded that there was sufficient prima facie
evidence to warrant the opening of an investigation.

What happens next?

The
European Commission will send out questionnaires to various interested parties.
It will ask for information relating to the exports, production, sales and
imports of solar glass. Once the interested parties have responded to the
questionnaires, the Commission will verify the data, often by going to the
premises of the companies. On the basis of the information it has collected,
the Commission will establish if dumping has taken place.

In
addition, the Commission will carry out the so-called "Union interest
test". The Commission will consider whether the potential imposition of
measures would be more costly to the EU economy as a whole than the benefit of
the measures would be to the complainants. The Commission will assess the level
of duty needed to counteract the injurious effects of dumping. Measures, if
any, will be imposed at the level of dumping or injury whichever is the lower –
the so-called 'lesser duty rule.'

Within nine months of the start of the
investigation, the Commission will issue its provisional findings. There are
three possible scenarios:

impose provisional anti-dumping duties
(normally for a six months period);

continue the investigation without imposing
provisional duties; or

terminate the investigation.

Throughout
the investigation, all interested parties have a right to make their views and
arguments heard by sending in comments to the Commission and/or taking part in
hearings (;
).
The Commission takes account of the comments received and addresses these in
the remainder of the investigation.

The
Council is legally obliged to take a final decision on the imposition of any
definitive measures within 15 months of the investigation being started. In the
present case, that means before 28 May 2014.

Interested members are invited
to contact Abigail Mamo at GRTU in order to be kept informed of developments.