Category: Archive – 2013

08:45 – 11:30 hrs at Malta
Enterprise, Gwardamangia Hill, Pieta – The
European Union's Eco-Innovation programme is addressed mainly to organisations
that have developed an environmental product, service, management practice or process
which has a proven track record yet is not fully marketed due to residual
risks. The Eco-innovation initiative is intended to overcome those barriers to
further market penetration and turn these products and processes into Europe's
future eco-innovation successes. Applications from SMEs are particularly
encouraged.

" Reforming the Internal
Market for Industrial Products " – In accordance with the European
Commission's Work Programme 2013 a public consultation has been released for
all industrial products, i.e. manufactured non-food products. It
will address the elimination of remaining trade barriers, in particular for
products with high-level growth potential, ensure more consistency in the
application of the legislation, and simplify its management and implementation.

The consultation is very broad and
gives us the opportunity to table old and new points again.

It is about mutual recognition, Key Enabling
Technologies (E.G Nano), Sustainable Products, Overlapping and Conflicting EU
legislation, Harmonisation, Expanding CE-Marking, Accreditation, Conformity,
and more.

DEADLINE:
WEDNESDAY 17 APRIL

The consultation can be
found here:

http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ipm/forms/dispatch?form=IMIP&lang=en

The
Seminar will focus on:The
understanding  of  the scope and objectives of the EU Directive
2011/7/EU on combating late payment in commercial transactions and its
transposition to Maltese law by LN277/2012.The legal rights, benefits and
limitations of this Directive for the Maltese business community in
business-to-business and business-to-government commercial transactions.

The
Maltese credit environment and the implementation of the Directive 2011/7/EU in
Malta.

Delegates
will be provided with Conference literature, Free Parking on first come first
served  basis and Networking light lunch.

Fees:
This seminar is sponsored by the European Commission Representation in Malta
and  there is no charge for participants.

Thursday
14th Februaury 2013    

 –    
13.30-17.00pm     –    

Grand
Hotel Excelsior, Floriana

You
are to send your interest on by not later than 12^th February 2013.
Instruction on how to register is available on www.macm.org.mt.

Malta Council for Science
and Technology is launching the 2013 National Research & Innovation
Programme. The scope of this Programme is applied research and knowledge
transfer between academia and industry, focussing on Environment & Energy
Resources, ICT, Added-value Manufacturing and Health and Biotechnology.

The MCST is currently
accepting proposals to the R&I 2013 Programme.

Information
sessions will be held on Thursday 14th February 2013 at 14.00 at the MCST, Villa Bighi,
Kalkara. Full details of the Programme
including rules for participation and application forms are available on the
MCST website:

http://www.mcst.gov.mt/national-funding/ri-programme/current-ri-programme

GRTU
has received confirmation that the European Commission has decided that Chinese
Manufacturers of lighters (gas fuelled, non-refillable pocket flint under EU
consolidated HS Code ex96131000) were bypassing anti-dumping regulations and
has therefore extended the already imposed dumping tax to cover imports also
from Vietnam.

The
objective of the already existing anti-dumping tax on Chinese originating
lighters, set up in 1991, was to restore the conditions for a fair and loyal
competition to allow European lighter producers to trade on equal terms with
their competitors and to give them the ability to maintain jobs. For 20 years,
this regulation has been difficult to enforce, many producers having multiplied
ways to circumvent it through false declarations, claiming especially that
their lighters were produced in Vietnam, making it a major country of
circumvention through false declaration of origin.

GRTU
has this week held a meeting in conjunction with MCCAA on the new law requiring
them to indicate not only the unit price on their shelves but also prices by
weight, price per Kilo or Liter.
This
stems for the transposition of an EU Regulation related to consumer protection
in the indication of prices of products offered to consumers. It specifies
that:

when goods are offered for sale
they shall have indicated the actual price and the price according to the base
weight

where the pre-packed solid
food has a liquid medium, the price according to the base weight shall
refer to the net drained weight of the product

By
virtue of Legal Notices 46 and 47 retail outlets with an area of less than
200sqm are exempt from this new imposition of displaying prices also according
to the base weight and all retailers are exempted from this obligation  on
goods weighing less than 50 grammes or 50 milliliters.

Businesses
that will be affected have already started preparing for this regulation that
will be legally binding on them as of 1^st March 2013.

There was an intensive
discussion during the meeting and retailers were provided with practical
methods to implement this regulation in a way that best fits their needs. A
copy of the presentation and official documents are available by emailing .

Freight
transport is one of the major issues of discussion in Malta and it employs
hundreds of workers on the island. However, it is also the cause of congestion
and environmental problems, especially when it deploys its activities into city
centres.One
problem is that residents experience high levels of CO2 emissions and another
difficulty is that a lot of roads are damaged due to heavy vehicles passing
through such roads.

Malta
is represented in the C-Liege Project through Paragon Europe that is
coordinating the deployment and implementation of UFT measures in the Local
Council of Hal Tarxien.

During
the past 12 months, Paragon Europe together with the support of Chev. Paul
Farrugia, Mayor of Hal Tarxien, has organised three roundtables, where major
Maltese stakeholders (Transport Malta, GRTU, traffic police and other
neighbouring Local Councils) gathered and discussed best practices that would
assist Hal Tarxien to solve some of the problems related to freight traffic in
the city centre. Moreover, a public event was organized on December 19th 2012,
and the citizens were invited to bring their suggestions and ideas to improve
the measures previously identified.

Chev.
Farrugia and the other stakeholders agreed on working on four actions. The
first will be a pilot re-routing of traffic in Id-Dejma road, where freight
traffic will be closed to vehicles heavier than 3.5 tonnes during rush hours
(7-10am and 4-7pm) in order to relieve an already congested road. The second
includes the deployment of extra loading and unloading bays to support shop owners.
The third and the fourth will represent management measures.

A
Freight Quality Partnership will be set up, creating a permanent forum in Hal
Tarxien chaired by a City Logistic Manager and the Mayor to regularly discuss
freight transport issues and come up with concrete policies. The FQP will also
be in charge of creating a Local Freight Development Plan, the last of the four
identified measures, which will contain the mid and long-term measures to be
discussed and implemented.

Chev.
Paul Farrugia has expressed his concern regarding the problems that freight
traffic is creating in his city and committed himself to making Hal Tarxien the
first Maltese Local Council to have such a permanent forum and pointed out the
importance of a freight transport long-term plan during the C-Liege Workshop
held in Newcastle in October 2012. During his speech, Chev. Farrugia declared
that "thanks to C-LIEGE, we will embark on efforts to develop both a societal
and a regulatory framework for sustainable urban logistics. We need to change
mentality. The C-LIEGE project is a boost for my local Council to start
educating our citizens in the values of sustainable mobility."

On
5th February, Safer Internet Day 2013, the Commission has presented the results
of joint work of media, technology, telecoms and online companies undertaken since
their December 2011 commitment to make the internet a better and safer place
for kids (see IP/11/1485).
29
leading companies involved in this self-regulatory exercise have reported on
how they will collectively set a new benchmark for child protection online.

As
a result of their commitments, all devices (including smartphones, tablets,
computers and games consoles) could be equipped with parental control tools and
screens with simple tools for users to report harmful content and contact. The
industry is also working to ensure that parents are aware of, and make use of,
these tools. In addition, best practices have been established in terms of
age-appropriate privacy settings and effective take down of child abuse
material. Also very promising is the commitments received on technology tools
to promote wider use of content classification. Commitments will be deployed
during 2013.

The
average age for first going online in Europe is seven. Safer Internet Day 2013
is all about online rights and responsibilities, to encourage people online of
all ages to "Connect with Respect". Events are taking place across
the EU and worldwide and, as of 2014, the EU and US will 'celebrate' Safer
Internet Day" on the same day.

European
Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said "I am very happy that these
leading companies have responded to the call and worked together across sectors
to produce concrete results. Child protection should get Board level attention.
More is needed. I look forward to implementation in 2013 and to seeing a new
benchmark emerging in the on-line industry: child protection by default".

Company
statements, published today on the Digital Agenda website, show that the
coalition has delivered concrete improvements for children:

Tools
to report online abuse or bullying are gradually becoming universal. Some
companies are going one step further and cooperating with hotlines, for
instance Telefónica, Vodafone, KPN's Meldknop or applications like SecondFriend
available on Google. Facebook has developed the Support Dashboard which enables
staff to better follow up on reports of abuse or content which violates
Facebook community standards and for users to see what action is being taken in
response.

Parental
control tools are now available across more products (computers, tablets,
smartphones games devices, as well as connected TV sets) and services, with
more coming in 2013. For example France Telecom is developing a tool for
tablets and smart phones, and parental controls will be in all of LG's mobile
devices as of April this year. A Commission study confirms this wider
availability but notes that while tools are good at blocking pornographic
materials, there has been limited progress in blocking violent, racist or other
harmful content. Companies are already providing information about their tools
or implementing them by active choice, or by default (Microsoft or Nintendo).
Companies including France Telecom, Mediaset, TeliaSonera, Tuenti and Telecom
Italia are also planning information campaigns for parents.

Content
ratings for apps, online videos and films now widely used based on companies'
own rating systems, or those of national and international bodies. A Technical
Task Force involving companies (including Deutsche Telekom, Mediaset, Nokia,
Opera, Orange, RIM, Telefónica, Vodafone), content rating agencies and
technical experts will work in 2013 to align content systems and ensure that
devices will be able to determine the age-classification of materials.

The
coalition has defined and shared best practices for age-appropriate privacy
settings. All companies are giving up to date information about their privacy
settings which will soon be searchable so that parents, teachers and children
can make better decisions about their privacy on line. Companies have also
committed to make available age-appropriate privacy settings and to offer clear
and understandable information in language that is appropriate for a younger
audience

The
industry is open about what it does to filter out child sexual abuse material
before it is reported, and to take down offensive materials. It is committed to
improving dialogue and links with abuse report hotlines and law enforcement
bodies. In 2012 hotlines to report sexual abuse materials have become more
efficient in monitoring the notice and take down process. Law enforcement
bodies have speeded up their response time in major hosting countries.

Revision of business
classes by MEPA (change of use) – ATTN: Operators in
Industrial Areas, Tourism Accommodations, Retail Outlets, Kidergartens, Crèche,
Day Nurseries and Day Centres, Schools, Colleges, Training Centers, Goldsmiths
and Silversmiths, Taxi and Vehicle Hire Service, Car sellers and dealers

MEPA
launched a revised document on the Classes Order, which basically groups uses
with similar land use and environmental impacts together into Classes, to
replace the Development Planning (Use Classes) Order of 1994. Today change of
use within the same class do not require development permissions, whist most
changes from one class to another do require a development permit. The revision
presented by MEPA will, in a number of cases, remove the need for a full
development permit when the proposed change of use is perceived to have less of
a land use and environmental impact than what is already permitted on site.

Businesses
falling within these classes are urged to attend and be informed what changes
are proposed and how these might affect them. A consultation meeting will be
held as follows:

Wednesday
13th February

15.00
– 16.30

GRTU,
Exchange Building, Republic Street, Valletta

The
meeting is free of charge but registration on or 21232881 is
required

Class
3: Renamed Tourism Accommodation and would include a new category named small
scale boutique hotels

Class
4: Retail will be replaced with five more specific classes

Class
8: Education would be divided in two groups, one for smaller establishments
that cater for less and the other for larger establishments such as schools

Class
11: Would now include also goldsmiths and silversmiths and includes a proposal
to limit the scale of a Class 11 use to 50m2 without prejudice or amnesty

Class
18: Agriculture would be split to have a new section called Agri businesses

Class
21: This would be a new Class for taxi business, vehicle hire services

Class
22: This would be a new Class for sale or display of vehicles

MEPA
also intends to simplify procedures for shifts between different types of
floorspace within shopping and business complexes and change of uses from shops
to offices and offices to dwellings amongst others.

The
full text of the public consultation is available on the MEPA website http://www.mepa.org.mt/public-consultation2