FOI welcomes adjustments to eco-contribution mechanism

The Malta Federation of Industry has welcomed the significant adjustments to the eco-contribution tariffs and parameters related to plastic bags manufacturing and usage, announced by Government on Friday.

Following the publication of the original tariffs, the FOI immediately asked for a review, since they would put unsustainable pressures on industry. Mostly hit were the producers of plastic bags and other industries that use bags in their manufacturing processes.

Last week, the FOI alerted its members on the recently published Legal Notice 533 of 2004 that extended the eco-contribution scheme and urged all members to report their concerns on how the introduction of these contributions would negatively affect their company's operations.

These regulations, which came into force on December 30, provided a schedule that lists the HS Codes to which the eco-contribution applies.

Products covered include: plastic, glass or metal containers containing beverages; empty plastic, glass or metal containers used for the conveyance or packaging of beverages; toiletries and washing preparations; plastic tableware and kitchenware; plastic packaging; gum; ammunition; mattresses, articles of bedding and similar furnishing; plastic bags; tyres for motor and commercial vehicles; batteries and accumulators; petroleum oils; oil filters; and white goods and electronic equipment.

The concerns of many FOI members, as to the high eco-contributions being implemented through these regulations were brought to the attention of the federation. Thus, the federation called an urgent meeting last Tuesday for FOI members, particularly those directly operating in the plastics processing sector.

The meeting was followed by another with Tonio Fenech, Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, in the presence of FOI officials and members. Last Friday FOI president Anton Borg led a delegation of senior FOI officials to a meeting with Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment George Pullicino.

At both meetings, the FOI insisted that the tariffs and parameters were excessive and ambiguous.

As a result of last Friday's meeting, it was agreed that the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment would clarify that there would be no eco-contribution charged on plastic bags used in industrial processes, whether for packaging or for internal use.

It was also agreed that, in terms of the eco-contribution on all other bags, the methodology of calculating such a contribution would be revised and the contribution on bin liners (otherwise known as garbage bags) would be drastically reduced.

The FOI believes that the issue could have been approached differently and that, before announcing the methodologies and the tariffs, Government should have held a process of consultation similar that conducted in the middle of last year when the initial phase of the eco-contributions was drafted.