Italian ambassador, Giovanni Umberto De Vito

The solution to merchandise being brought down from Sicily is not more controls imposed on catamaran passengers but fewer controls on groupage containers that come in via Grand Harbour, Italian Ambassador Giovanni Umberto De Vito believes.

The ambassador was commenting on recent statements made by the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry about merchandise being brought into Malta transiting through Italy.

He was clearly less than amused by headlines last week highlighting concern at alleged abuse “by Sicilian traders” following the chamber’s intervention in Parliament regarding Vat, eco-tax and excise duty not being paid, creating an unlevel playing field for local retailers.

With the diplomacy you would expect, he asked: “Why Sicilian? Are we sure that the people who are bringing in this merchandise are not Maltese or from any other country?” he said, revealing just a slight irritation at the chamber’s attempt to influence Parliament.

“Are these companies being investigated? We have requested information from the chamber but it has not been forthcoming and we have not been given any concrete proof.

“The European Commission is also reading these articles. Would they be interested in seeing additional controls and obstacles to the single market? I don’t think so!” he said.

The ambassador was planning to meet chamber president David Curmi to suggest that he works with his counterparts in Sicily and Italy to investigate any specific situation.

“The chambers of commerce have considerable information – this certainly does not need to be done at an intergovernmental level, unless it requires a change of policy,” he said.

In the meantime, sources at the chamber claim Sicilians were opting to pay Vat on sales in Malta, rather than in Sicily – but that there were no channels for exchange of information between the tax authorities to ensure that they were in fact paying Vat here.

Mr De Vito is, however, somewhat sceptical about these claims, saying that Italian authorities were very strict when it came to fiscal enforcement.

“I am not aware that there has been a specific request from Malta for information to be exchanged – and even though cooperation on tax matters remains a very delicate issue, we would welcome any such request as being in the interest of both parties,” he said.

Malta has formed part of the single market for a decade but the phenomenon of merchandise being brought in without Customs supervision is a relatively recent one. Until a few years ago, grou­page freight – consignments destined for different customers but dispatched in one contai­­ner – was only sent to Malta via services such as Italian company Grimaldi.

These containers are taken to Ħal Far and are unloaded in the presence of Customs officials.

When the larger catamarans were introduced by Virtu, they became a feasible alternative for trucks – and a way to bypass the Customs inspection at Ħal Far as the police regulation was never extended to the ferry.

Grimaldi is clearly vexed as this haemorrhage of its business. The fact that Joe Bugeja, the general manager of its Maltese company Malta Motorway of the Sea made part of the presentation in Parliament did not go unnoticed by Virtu. Grimaldi engaged a local legal firm which drew up 27 points about anomalies between the services.

It has also lobbied Valletta Gateway Terminals and the ambassador, while MMS director Guido Gri­maldi was also in Malta recently and took the oppor­tunity to present his case to Transport Minister Joe Mizzi.

“We believe that the authorities should put things right. It is not up to us to fight!” MMS managing director Ernest Sullivan said.

Ambassador De Vito would prefer a less confrontational solution.

“We should speed up the process for groupage containers. These are also being moved within the single market as any cargo originating from third countries will have been monitored at the point of entry into the EU.

“So if we apply the same argument being made by the government about the fact that we form part of a single market insofar as the catamaran is concerned, then the controls at Ħal Far only make sense for ships entering Maltese ports from outside the EU. This would really make a difference, ensure a level playing field and ultimately benefit traders and consumers.”