Chamber calls on government to fully implement Eco-Contribution rules

The Malta Chamber accused the government of “constantly mishandling the matter ever since it was introduced”. 

It expressed its disappointment that after various meetings with Finance Minister Tonio Fenech and even with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi himself, the pending issues “remain unresolved”.

It insisted it was left with no choice but to conclude that this government was “paralysed and is not able to implement its own laws”.

The Malta Chamber explained that after five years of delay, a legal notice to regulate the issuing of exemptions from eco-contribution was published on 16 February this year.

“But Government had been found lacking in its preparedness to implement this legal notice because it was published without the backing of complementary regulation,” the MCCEI insisted.

The MCCEI lamented that since last February, eligible companies were not able to benefit from such exemptions because the “necessary administrative arrangements have still not been put into place”.

Moreover, the Chamber explained how the application process to qualify for exemptions “has as yet not been communicated except the recent setting up of an approving body.

“This is totally unacceptable,” the MCCEI insisted.

In the process, until it was convenient for Government to implement the law and bring its house in order, legitimate companies had to incur extra costs and double payments of eco-contribution plus the relevant expenses to participate in private waste management schemes which participation is required by law.

The Malta Chamber insisted that “out of fairness to law-abiding companies”, the law that has been published should be “implemented forthwith and in its entirety”.