The Consumer Affairs Authority said today that it will be taking action against a trader for not having fully rectified problems identified last year in an EU-wide 'sweep' of sellers of tickets for sports and cultural events.

The authority recalled that in its own 'sweep' in Malta it investigated six traders and found problems in five of them, mostly related to  incomplete and misleading information about the identity of the trader, misleading information about the final price to be paid for the ticket, as well as unfair terms and conditions.

Out of the five non-compliant traders, two were local and the other three were cross-border cases.

One of the local traders has since rectified all the irregularities on its website. Action will be taken against the second.

With regard to the cross-border cases, the authority said it had requested  action through its counterparts abroad. Two cases have been closed after the necessary changes were carried. One case remains open as Malta is still awaiting feedback from the competent authority abroad.

Details of the 2010 Sweep exercise across Europe were given today by Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli during a press briefing in Brussels. Commissioner Dalli highlighted the fact that enforcement 'sweeps' were delivering results and were a major achievement for EU consumers.

During the Sweep exercise, competent authorities in all EU member states use a common checklist for irregularities and are encouraged to take follow-up action so as to ascertain that non-compliant behaviour is rectified.

More information can be obtained from  http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/enforcement/sweeps_en.htm