A group of about 60 Maltese businessmen are calling on the government to intervene on their behalf with the Italian authorities after €500,000 worth of merchandise was seized by the Guardia di Finanza in Catania, Sicily late last year and so far has not been released.

Labour MP Josè Herrera, a lawyer by profession who is assisting the businessmen in question, said the entrepreneurs in question have been importing merchandise from markets in Catania for years. Something to the tune of €50 million worth of products were imported every year in this way, he explained. However, last November 15 their merchandise was seized by the Guardia di Finanza on grounds that the Italian vendors had failed to pay Customs duty in Italy. The Maltese buyers had acted in bona fidae because they had made their purchases from wholesalers in Catania and were in possession of the necessary documents, Dr Herrera said, adding that the vendors had continued with their business as usual.

Dr Herrera went to Sicily in a bid to solve the impasse and an attempt was also made to strike a deal with the Guardia di Finanza so that the Customs duty allegedly due would be paid under protest and the Maltese businessmen would be able to take their merchandise. However, no reply was forthcoming.

Dr Herrera and his colleague, lawyer Roberto Montalto, wrote to the mayor of Catania, the Italian Ambassador in Malta and to Foreign Minister Michael Frendo about the matter.

He said a group of about 30 businessmen staged a protest in City Gate yesterday and then went to the Foreign Ministry where nobody would speak to them. They then proceeded to the Office of the Prime Minister where they presented a number of documents to the Prime Minister's secretariat.