Flower businesses are insisting with the authorities to regulate street vendors before Mother’s Day as they expressed their frustration that the authorities were passive on this “unfair playing field”.
Florists are concerned that they will face the same situation on Sunday as they had faced on Valentine’s Day, when business was “literally snatched from under our noses”.
When contacted, the Chamber for Small and Medium Businesses, GRTU, said it was in discussions with the economy and justice ministries to end the situation.
But despite several meetings, the situation is expected to remain unchanged due to the “complications” in regulating this illegal operation.
“It is a sensitive issue because restricting permits for flower sellers is not only unfeasible but it will have a snowball effect on every other type of seller,” a spokeswoman for the Economy Ministry told the Times of Malta when contacted.
GRTU chief executive Abigail Psaila Mamo said chamber members were competing with those who wake up one morning and decide they wanted to sell something from the boot of their car or van.
Vast majority of street hawkers in breach of the law
She said that the situation was the result of “abuse” by local councils, which were given the power to issue permits for “anyone to sell anything” for just a nominal fee.
She argued that councils were overstepping their legal remit as the legal notice issued in 2002 which gave councils the power to issue these type of permits was specifically to regulate the temporary stalls that characterise local feasts “and not to establish a platform that allows the bypassing of commercial laws and requirements”.
“With this simple local council licence individuals are setting up stalls in the busiest areas of Malta. They usually set up next to the most traffic-congested roundabouts to get the most exposure. Consumers find this very convenient and there is no way retailers can compete on the same platform,” she said.
She also claimed that the vast majority of street hawkers were in breach of the law because they were not issuing VAT receipts.
“Local retail flower and plant shops will continue struggling because of this abuse.
“The situation is worsening every year and this year they saw a record number of stalls set up around the island for Valentine’s Day.
“The GRTU has drafted a set of proposals that will re-establish a level playing field and we are insisting that the situation is rectified before Mother’s Day,” Ms Psaila Mamo said.
But the issue does not seem that simple for the authorities.
“The ministry has had several meetings with the GRTU on the matter, and has reached out to the Justice Ministry because this trade issue extends beyond the Economy Ministry’s remit which can only be consulted on any changes required in the current law but cannot effect any changes to the law in question,” the Economy Ministry spokeswoman said.
She continued: “The matter is a complex one as the reforms of the current legislation will not only affect flower sellers but all types of mobile sellers.
“Both ministries in their consideration are taking the interest of all stakeholders this legal notice concerns as well as the interest and investment of other commercial operators and the general public.”