GRTU calls for withdrawal of 'retrograde' alcohol ban in confectioneries

The Chamber of SMEs (GRTU) has come out against a revised law banning the sale of alcohol from confectioneries after 9pm, calling for its withdrawal by government.

The laws, described by the GRTU as retrogade, were believed to be intended at curbing so called ‘bottle-shops’ and street hawkers from selling alcohol outside entertainment areas like Paceville.

But GRTU director-general Vince Farrugia says the new rules are creating unfair commercial disadvantages for confectioneries. “Curbing abuse in Paceville of alcohol cannot be achieved by targeting the retailer, who is already bound by laws not to sell alcohol. Consumers should also be allowed to buy cheaper alcohol from such shops.”

Farrugia said only professional surveillance would prove effective against this phenomenon, using modern technology and specifically trained enforcement officers. “It is a problem of a social nature not commercial, and retailers should not be made to suffer because the authorities are incapable of resolving a problem through more efficient surveillance,” Farrugia said.

Originally GRTU vice-president Philip Fenech, who owns an establishment in Paceville, had long said that confectioneries selling alcohol outside Paceville were turning into makeshift bars at night. “If such confectioneries want to operate as bars, they are free to convert their premises according to the necessary compliance,” Fenech said.

The laws were also welcomed by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, but protested by the Consumers’ Association.

The GRTU is now saying the rules will put bars at an advantage and confectioneries at a disadvantage. “And they confuse the situation where mini-markets and super-markets and other food and drink retailers are concerned. They also confuse the situation where kiosks are involved,” Vince Farrugia said.

“Retailers are licensed to sell during all hours in which they are open and they cannot be expected to lock away a section of their retailing establishment after a certain hour, or to introduce searches in bags at the cash-point after a certain hour to ensure that consumers have not purchased what the law prohibits them from buying after a certain hour.”

Farrugia also said consumers cannot be prevented from purchasing alcohol after a certain time from supermarkets and grocers that stay open until after 9pm. “They cannot be expected to refrain from doing and practicing what in fact had become an acquired right.”