Category: Archive – 2008

Following the French decision based relative to cosmetic products to provisionally restrict the use of diethylene glycol monobutyl ether (DEGBE) and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (EGBE) in cosmetic products, the SCCP was consulted.

It was concluded that "Based on the information provided that the use of DEGBE as a solvent in hair dye formulations at a concentration up to 9.0% does not pose a risk to the health of the consumer. The opinion relates to the direct application to the hair/scalp".

On EGBE it was concluded that: "Based on the information provided the use of EGBE as a solvent at a concentration up to 4.0% in oxidative hair dye formulations and up to 2.0% in non-oxidative hair dye formulations, does not pose a risk to the health of the consumer. The opinion relates to the direct application to the hair/scalp."

The Commission is considering fixing limits regarding the possible use of these substances in hair dyes, except when they are used under the form of sprays, which use would be banned.

Information: Working document for a draft Regulation on active and intelligent materials and articles intended to come into contact with food

Scope

The Framework Regulation establishes the general principles for all materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs ("food contact materials", FCM). It includes active and intelligent materials and articles.

They are defined in the Regulation as follows:

‘active food contact materials and articles' means materials and articles that are intended to extend the shelf-life or to maintain or improve the condition of packaged food. They are designed to deliberately incorporate components that   would release or absorb substances into or from the packaged food or the environment surrounding the food;

‘intelligent food contact materials and articles' means materials and articles which monitor the condition of packaged food or the environment surrounding the food;

General provisions for active and intelligent materials cover:

General safety;

Changes to the composition and organoleptic properties of the food given that these changes comply with the Community provisions applicable to food;

Release of substances into the food only if they are authorised and  used in accordance with the relevant Community provisions applicable to food;

Labelling of released substances in accordance with rules on food labelling; labeling of non-edible parts and labelling to identify that the material is active or intelligent;

No misleading of consumer through changes in food or information given about condition of food;

Information to consumer and food packer on how to use active and intelligent materials and articles safely and appropriately in compliance with food law.

The Regulation does not cover all necessary aspects in detail therefore further requirements for active and intelligent materials and articles need to be set in a specific Commission measure.

 

Draft Specific Regulation on Active and Intelligent Materials and Articles

The objective of this draft Regulation is to set down additional requirements for active and intelligent materials and articles to ensure their safe use.

These cover in particular:

Safety of substances used in active and intelligent materials;

Relation to material specific requirements e.g. on plastic food contact materials;

Labelling of parts that can be mistaken for food;

Declaration of compliance.

The full text of the Draft Specific Regulation on Active and Intelligent Materials and Articles may be obtained by contacting our offices or emailing Abigail Mamo on .

Any feedback is welcome till the 2nd September 2008.

Following GRTU's article published on the 13th August  entitled "Valletta: Facing Realities" Mr Franco Debono from the Ministry for Information, Transport and Communication sent GRTU a comment.

In its article GRTU said that its members are in agreement with the pedestrainisation areas to further enhance the City Core. GRTU however said that a logical solution must be found for the several problems this will create. GRTU pointed out that this is not an easy project and simply cannot be done without detailed planning involving many enterprises.

Mr Debono felt that our article was unfair and that the Ministry treats consultation with stakeholders as a process not just carried out in words. GRTU still feels that the consultation carried out by the Ministry left much to be desired. GRTU therefore suggested the setting up of a Committee for all stakeholders to find a fair balance. If it were not for the GRTU no enterprise would have been directly  consulted .

The Ministry wanted the new scheme to operate as from the 18th August, however the proposal in hand is still not diligently worked out. GRTU insisted that it is not acceptable to keep this date and recommended that all stakeholders are to continue discussions until a finalised version of the proposal is acceptable and realistic to the Valletta Business Community in general.

The Ministry earlier this week addressed GRTU's above concern by stating that before the implementation of the changes to the Valletta Pedestrian Area this ministry will be communicating all changes in terms of delivery hours and location of all strategic loading bays with all members in the Valletta Business Community through an information leaflet which will be produced over the coming days. These changes will also be publicized in the local press over the coming days.

The Ministry also informed GRTU that the ADT will also be engaging local wardens specifically for the purpose of educating all drivers and stakeholders of these changes over a 15 day period from the date of implementation. 

Regarding the afternoon weekday delivery, the Ministry has so far agreed to Monday only. GRTU however feels that distribution must be allowed on two days minimum. It is still too early to expect all delivery companies, cargo haulers and service providers to organise their logistics and be able to furnish the Valletta Commercial Centre every day up till 9.30 without resorting to at least two days delivery slots.

City centre shop owners also insisted that the logistics of business requirements and the abilities and structures of distributors and providers of perishable goods make it impossible to avoid deliveries to the City Core on a number of afternoons. GRTU therefore proposed Monday and Friday (Monday necessary to replenish after the weekend and store for the rest of the week while Friday is the main delivery day to stock for the weekend ora). For both days a 90 minute slot is required between 14.30 and 16.00.

The Ministry confirmed that the loading bays will be in place before the implementation of the changes. 

The European Commission and the European Composers' and Songwriters' Alliance (ECSA) have lately been in conflict with one another, with the latter threatening to withdraw the singer songwriters' and lyricists' catalogues from circulation. On the 16th July the Commission put forward plans to enhance competition with regard to the collective management of copyright royalties levied on the playing of music on the internet, cable and satellite. This prohibits 24 European collecting societies from restricting competition by limiting their ability to offer their services to authors and commercial users outside their domestic territory.

Music copyright groups were ordered to put an end to a system that makes it difficult for online music stores to buy EU-wide licenses. According to ECSA, which is supported by famous artists like Sir Paul McCartney, such a step might cause irreparable damage to the creation of music in the European Union, a loss of an extreme amount of revenue for many creators around the world whose livelihood depends on this sector.

In its view, the restriction of consumers' choice and the increase in piracy could be affected by the Commission's decisions.

Two recent complaints highlighted the fact that broadcasters cannot sign multi-repertoire licensing agreements with two copyright companies because of territorial restrictions on the licensing agreements imposed by the copyright companies. In this regard, the European Commission wants to discard this territoriality aspect. According to ECSA, more competition would hurt smaller collecting agencies and less well-known musicians.

Source: Focus at MEUSAC

Article 4b of Council directive 76/768/EEC relative to cosmetic products provides that:

"the use in cosmetic products of substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction, of category 1, 2 and 3, under Annex I to Directive 67/548/EEC shall be prohibited. A substance classified in category 3 may be used in cosmetics if the substance has been evaluated by the SCCNFP and found acceptable for use in cosmetic products".

Toluene is classified as category 3, toxic for reproduction under Annex I to Council directive 67/548/EEC.  This substance is not regulated in an Annex to the Cosmetics Directive, nor has it been evaluated previously by the SCCNFP/SCCP.  The SCCP delivered its final opinion on 15 April 2008 on the safe use of toluene. In summary it concluded that:

"…inclusion of toluene up to 25% is safe from the general toxicological view in nail cosmetics used as intended in adults and children. However, the SCCP would like to point out that there is a foreseeable risk of increased inhalation by children as part of the normal playing behaviour from cosmetics promoted as children's toys. Therefore, the use of toluene in such products is not considered appropriate".

In 2006 the European Parliament and the Council requested the Commission to draw up a report on a generally applicable, transparent and comprehensible model for assessing the external costs of transport, such as pollution and congestion, to serve as the basis for calculating infrastructure charges.  The Commission was asked to propose a strategy for stepwise implementation of the model for all transport modes, accompanied if appropriate by a proposal for revising Directive 1999/62/EC on the charging of heavy good vehicles for the use of infrastructure.

 

The new proposal only applies to vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes and not to the other modes of transport. Due to the subsidiarity principle the revised Directive does not cover passenger cars.  According to the Commission the objectives of the revised Directive are to encourage Member States to implement differentiated charging to improve the efficiency and environmental performance of road freight transport. It seeks to amend Directive 1999/62/EC to establish a framework which enables Member States to calculate and vary tolls on the basis of costs of traffic based pollution and of congestion in a way compatible with the internal market.

According to the Commission the existing road levies have not proved effective enough to internalise external costs of road freight transport; tolls could be made more effective, but the current Directive blocks it. Directive 1999/62/EC recognises the "user pays" principle by allowing Member States to levy distance-based charges (tolls) to recover the cost of construction, maintenance and operation of infrastructure and it authorises time-based charges below a maximum rate.

The proposed Directive enables Member States to integrate in tolls levied on heavy goods vehicles an amount which reflects the cost of air pollution and noise pollution caused by traffic. During peak periods, it also allows tolls to be calculated on the basis of the cost of congestion imposed upon other vehicles. The amounts will vary with the travelled distance, location and time of use of roads to better reflect these external costs. The proceeds will have to be used by Member States for making transport more sustainable through projects such as research and development on cleaner and more energy efficient vehicles, mitigating the effect of road transport pollution or providing alternative infrastructure capacity for users.

Member States which opt for it must respect common charging principles together with mechanisms for notifying and reporting tolling schemes to the Commission. Member States must designate independent authorities to set the chargeable costs by using a common method which can be easily monitored and adapted to scientific progress. This will ensure that charging schemes are transparent, proportional to the objective pursued and do not discriminate against the nationality of hauliers.

The charge must be collected through electronic systems which does not create hindrance to the free flow of traffic and local nuisance at tollbooths, and which can be extended to other part of the network at a later stage without significant additional investments. A transition period for the current systems with barriers is planned. To avoid undue charging of users, other conditions must be met when a charge based on the costs of congestion and pollution is combined with a charge to recover the cost of infrastructure.

The proposal extends the scope of the current Directive beyond the trans-European network to avoid inconsistent pricing schemes between major corridors and other interurban roads. It makes more practicable the provisions in the current Directive on the mark-up levied in mountainous areas to co-finance EU labelled priority projects. It does not prevent Member States from applying on urban roads regulatory charges specifically designed to reduce traffic congestion or combat environmental impacts in built up areas.

Consequences for freight transport of the revision

The main consequence for freight transport is that it will become more expensive and with the risk of achieving no improvements because alternatives to road do not exist. Currently the Directive leaves it up to the Member States to internalise the external costs but the Commission plans to make it obligatory in the future.

The exact cost the road transport needs to pay depends all on how much and when you drive as well as the type of road you use. The price of transporting goods by road is expected to increase by a few eurocents per kilometre. This will have negative impacts on the transport costs for companies especially for long distance transport.

Strategy to internalise external costs focusing on making transport prices better reflect their real cost to society so that environmental damage and congestion can be reduced while boosting the efficiency of transport and ultimately the economy as a whole.

A well attended meeting for Valletta shop owners  gave the Ministry for Infrastructure and Communications (MICC) the go ahead to proceed with the extension of the pedestrianised areas to further enhance the City Core. 

Arrangements have also be settled so that distributors and service providers will now be able to service Valletta shops up to 9.30 am on all working days. Agreement has also been reached to locate an agreed number of loading/unloading bays in strategic positions so that the City Centre is better services during all hours that the Pedestrian Zone is closed to traffic.

City Centre shop owners have, however, insisted that the logistics of business requirements and the abilities and structures of distributors and providers of perishable goods make it impossible to avoid deliveries to the City Core on a number of afternoons.

Shop owners are therefore proposing either a 90 minute slot each afternoon between 14.30 and 16.00, or alternatively afternoon deliveries on only two days , between Monday and Friday.

The two busiest afternoons today are Monday and Friday, The first is necessary to replenish after the weekend and store for the rest of the week and Friday is the main delivery day to stock for the weekend.

Shop owners are insisting that it is still too early to cause all delivery companies, cargo haulers and service providers to organise their logistics and be able to furnish the Valletta Commercial Centre every day up till 9.30 am without resorting to at least two afternoon delivery slots.

GRTU insists that the logistics are too complicated to be reset in a short period of time under diktat from the Ministry. It simply cannot be done without detailed planning involving many enterprises. It is not just a question of shifting times. There are many other inputs like: equipment, workers, fresh produce, factory arrangements, road capacities and traffic directions. It is not simply a question of somebody drafting something on a Ministry's desk, it is rather causing diligently many people to operate differently without increasing costs and without negative impact on business.

Valletta commercial Center is not only the busiest in Malta but also the most difficult to manage, that is why GRTU advices caution, while remaining on a speedy practical solution.

The Ministry is proposing that the afternoons should be Wednesday and Saturday. Of course, Saturday is irrelevant as haulers, distributors, factories vegetable markets, etc do not work on a Saturday and the cost to cause them to operate will be prohibitive. From the receiving end, store workers and other people handling deliveries in, also do not work on a Saturday afternoon. It is inhumane really to force them to do so, even if at a price. Wednesday on the other hand is considered by many as awkward, and mid-week is not the preferred day for factories and other suppliers.

GRTU seeks a logical solution. A decision that is smart and intelligent. It can be done. The Ministry wants a new scheme to operate as from 18th August. The proposal in hand is still not diligently worked out. Imposing an illogical solution on the weekend after Santa Maria is neither smart nor intelligent.

 

 

Government and those who are being instigated to write in the media in favour of the proposals presented by the Hon. John  Dalli, on behalf of the PN Government for the Reform of the Rent Laws safeguarding operating enterprises, fail to reply to the most fundamental question : Who will really, really GROSSLY benefit from the reform? Is it really the small guy for whom some writers are shedding so much crocodile tears? or is it the others? The very, very few and very, very big others?

We have walked the streets of Valletta and talked to shop owners and asked the simple question: Who is the landlord who receives the rent? And the landlords` names roll on, its not a very long list but names that are repeated, in certain streets door after door. These are some names for the record: Testaferrata, Salamone, Desia, Depiro, Sant Cassia, Montaldo, Gollcher, Manduca, Formosa, Sant Fournier, Schicluna, and of course the Government.

There are other important questions GRTU asked and to which answers remain unforthcoming. In his address this week, Paul Abela, as President of GRTU, raised a number of important question in  his address to Alternattiva Demokratika.

"On the issue of the Reform of Rent of Commercial Property, the property from which the work and earnings of many of our members emerge, I ask: Is it possible that none of the political parties thought of looking up the history?  Is it possible that nobody has noticed that in most democratic countries, the issue of rent of residential property is legislated separately from that of rent of property used commercially for enterprises? Is it possible that none of you were scandalized as we were that the Government inserted in the White Paper, which primarily deals with the reform of rented residential property just two pages and the handful of proposals that refer to rented commercial properties that affect thousands of business owners, their families and their employees?  Does this mean that nobody cares about the tenants, whose income depend on the property from which they work, and that the issue of their security of tenure is of no relevance to the political party currently in Government?  And what about the Party in Opposition, and the Alternattiva Demokratika?  Is this their attitude too?

The proposals of the Government included in the White Paper are not based on any statistical evidence.  Does the Government have no statistics that show how many businesses are going to be affected?  Is this the state of affairs we have in our country today?  Does it mean that whoever has the majority in parliament even if obtained by a few hundred votes can proceed regardless of the impact of its proposals?

Is it possible that none of today's politicians have taken the initiative to understand that the laws regarding rent of commercial property are an important instrument for the safeguarding of jobs in small enterprises, of the self-employed business owners, their families as well as their employees?  Other countries, especially France and Austria, give great value to the livelihood of enterprise owners in rented properties.  Why is Malta taking a different approach?  Were the promises that the self-employed and the small business owners are at the heart of Maltese politicians, empty?

An enterprise owner who has rented property has much of his wealth tied up in that enterprise.  How can it be that the property owner is now being given the right to kick him out of the premises and effectively requisition his business without compensation at the termination of the lease contract? 

We are speaking clearly by saying that what is proposed in the White Paper allows the property owner not only to take back the property but also to take everything else.  Once the tenants are kicked out the property owner can effectively open the business for himself.  Malta has never seen a proposal involving such large theft as this.  How can it be that suddenly the owner's right for seizure has become so sacred?  Did this right become so sacred when the European Union recognized that the small businesses are the backbone of the European Economy and when a Small Business Act is being drawn up so that European Politicians try to safeguard the small enterprises?  I ask, who are the owners who have a great deal of property rented before 1995?  Can they show their statistics so that we can truly see who is putting the Nationalist Party into Government with their proposal?

What is the reason behind all this hurry?  Why did they come up with this proposal in the middle of the summer, when everybody's interests are elsewhere?  Who, in Malta, is conscious of the fact that the consultation period closes a few days after Santa Marija and that the Government already has the law almost fully planned out?  Is this how they are going to lead democracy, with dictatorship of the majority walking over the rights of the minority and mocking the people in the middle of this hot summer?  It is obvious that we, the GRTU, believe in an alternative democracy!"

 

 

At the last Economic and Financial Affairs Council (of 8 July) it was concluded that there is a need for active measures on transparency for banks and other financial institutions and that credit rating agencies must be regulated.

These last years have witnessed how various deficiencies and lax practices in an economic system have caused credit problems across the world, leading to intervention from central banks to keep financial markets afloat. One of the financial sectors which came in for criticism was in fact that of agencies whose work is to determine which financial institutions are reliable and to what extent. It is clear that this system did not work and that the alarm on the crisis, which could have been avoided with greater caution, was not sounded in good time.

The Council is thus giving its support to a regime where credit rating agencies are subject to a European registration system and where international cooperation in this regard is increased.

On the other hand, the Council is encouraging banks and other financial institutions to increase transparency and to abide by a report prepared by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors. If the institutions, quickly and comprehensively, provide information on the difficulties that they are facing, it is more likely that trust in the markets is regained, as operators become more knowledgeable of the situation.

Source: Focus at MEUSAC