Liquigas has asked the Police Commissioner in a letter dated October 27 to investigate whether its competitor, Easygas, is selling gas cylinders without the necessary certification.
A cylinder without a serial number cannot be filled or sold
Liquigas says it has proof that yellow Enemalta cylinders are being shipped to Italy to be modified and possibly refilled only to be sent back to be sold in Malta without the necessary serial numbers and other markings on them.
Easygas has admitted to sending the cylinders to Italy but only for storage purposes.
Although the police have so far failed to reply to questions on whether they would launch an investigation, the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority said it was looking into the matter.
The Italian police last month found 1,500 old Enemalta cylinders in a plant in Padula, in the province of Salerno, which, according to Italian news reports, were “misappropriated” from Malta.
The case is still being investigated. The Italian police have refused to answer media questions about the case.
Meanwhile, the MCCAA says it is inspecting “pertinent” sites in Malta “to gather evidence” following reports that gas cylinders were being unlawfully sent to Italy for modification. It does not elaborate on what it meant by “pertinent sites”.
“The MCCAA is investigating both operators in the sector with regard to the cylinders’ traceability and the issue of the cylinders’ safety. The MCCAA’s product safety officials have visited both the Enemalta/Liquigas filling plant at Qajjenza and the Easygas plant at Luqa.
“All gas cylinders should be marked indelibly or stamped as a means of traceability when being placed on the market,” the MCCAA added, without saying who reported the matter to its office, invoking confidentiality.
According to Liquigas, its competitor is sending to Italy cylinders it collected from customers who made the switch.
Liquigas says it bought the cylinders from Enemalta so they are theirs by right but the matter is still being fought out in court with Easygas arguing that the cylinders are the property of their possessors, the customers, and can therefore be exchanged with any operator.
Liquigas claims to have evidence of yellow cylinders returning to the Maltese market repainted in Easygas colours.
It also claims that the old certification markings of Enemalta were being removed from the cylinders and this could result in lack of traceability, rendering them illegal.
While Easygas has admitted sending the cylinders to a recertification facility in Italy, managing director Reuben Farrugia said: “We do not plan to fill these cylinders in the immediate future, so these are being kept in storage by the said facility until we give them the green light to commence testing.”
He added that most of the yellow gas cylinders were due for recertification.
“The courts of Malta have already rejected an attempt by Liquigas to stop our company from purchasing yellow cylinders from consumers. Therefore, Easygas does not need to reject the accusation being made in its regard that sending the cylinders to Italy was illegal for it was the courts themselves that accepted our right to purchase said movables and treat them as such,” he added.
Liquigas says it collected a number of such cylinders and reported this matter to the authorities “for action they are obliged to take”.
“Cylinders are pressure vessels and should respect the requirements set out by the Pressure Equipment Directive. This directive stipulates that each cylinder should carry a unique serial number, just like a name given to each cylinder. In this way, each cylinder can be traced to its original manufacturing certification. This is a basic safety consideration as this is the only way that consumers and authorities can ascertain that the cylinder was manufactured and maintained up to the required standards. The directives also stipulate, for the sake of safety, that a cylinder without a serial number cannot be filled or sold, it is only good as scrap steel.”
Liquigas says Easygas said in court it would not fill any cylinders from former Liquigas customers until the matter is settled.
The regulator, the Malta Resources Authority, says the case of ownership is sub judice so it cannot comment on the matter. However, it said the government was considering the introduction of a legal notice that would “clarify the issue of ownership”.
It also says that it is not the competent authority to investigate such issues and has had no contact with the Italian or local police.
“Notwithstanding, the MRA has met with MCCAA officials to discuss the issue of the markings. Suppliers are expected to be in conformity with the standards,” it said.