Non-alcoholic beverages seized in police raids

Police officers and officials from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority yesterday seized truckloads of non-alcoholic beverages in cans and bottles that did not comply with regulations.

Mepa acted for the first time on regulations enacted in 1998 that prohibit traders from importing, manufacturing, keeping or selling non-alcoholic beverages unless these were packed in a refillable glass bottle subject to a deposit and return scheme. It said the deposit refund scheme was intended to prevent the generation of packaging waste that ends up in landfills.

The raids on seven factories, warehouses and a private residence in Rabat, Naxxar, Msida, Qormi, Zebbug, Marsa and Guardamangia started early in the morning.

Paul Attard of Rabat, who recently started importing several canned soft drinks and in whose residence the police found only two packs of six soft drink cans each, said he was surprised by the raid, which in his case was carried out at 6.30 a.m.

"Some 26 policemen came to carry out the search. I have imported the drinks regularly, passed them through Customs and had all the paper work in order. EU membership means that free trade should be the rule of the day and that parallel trading is allowed. This is nothing but discrimination against us," he said.

Mr Attard said the large number of policemen for such an action was "unwarranted".

He said alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks in aluminium cans and non-returnable bottles were also bottled locally and as these containers harmed the environment as much as imported ones one would expect these to be targeted too.

Mepa's action came hot on the heels of a statement issued on Monday by the newly formed Malta Association of Soft Drinks Producers (MASDP).

The association urged Mepa and the Ministry of Rural Affairs as regulators of the Soft Drink Packaging Legal Notice 158/98 to enforce the current prohibition of one way soft drinks in cans or one way bottles. The bottlers argued that the industry required the full derogation period until the end of 2007, granted through the EU Accession Treaty, to prepare for the necessary investment in one way packaging and non-enforcement of the legal notice was detrimental to any such investment plans and the future of this industry on the island.

Contacted yesterday, Environment Minister George Pullicino said this was the first action and everything was in line with the government's policy of reducing waste.

"If we want to solve the waste problem we have to stop talking and act. We need to move on. Maghtab is a result of non-investment in waste management. We have to stop talking and invest if we want something different from Maghtab. Importers knew the law was there. They made money from what they imported while taxpayers paid for the disposal of cans and bottles they imported.

"If importers create a return system for the bottles and inform Mepa how they intend to recycle the bottles, then they can import whatever they like. We are not trying to stop anyone importing anything. We just want to control the waste problem," Mr Pullicino said.

Similar action was yesterday taken by the police and by Mepa officials against Logic International Ltd, the importers of Red Bull Energy Drink.

In a judicial protest that Logic International filed in the first hall of the civil court, the importers said that "large quantities of Red Bull products" were seized from the company.

In its protest, the company argued that even if the respondents' aim was simply to enforce the said legal notice on environmental grounds, "surely this cannot be done in a disproportionate manner by seizing stocks and effectively stopping the applicants from carrying out their legitimate business".

Presented by Dr Peter Fenech, the judicial protest noted that respondents were acting in a way that was "disproportionate, illegal, abusive and is causing substantial damage to the applicants".