The GRTU, Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises, yesterday appealed to the government, the opposition and spokesmen for consumers not to encourage people to think we could ever go back to systems of price controls which in the past had not brought anything but difficulties, shortages and stagnation.

It was commenting on food price increases, saying the system in Malta operated according to EU directives, on the basis of fair competition, consumer protection, and efficiency.

The GRTU had entered into an agreement, in the name of traders, on the FAIR system which meant to ensure against price rises due solely to the introduction of the euro next year. But there were various forces driving prices upwards, such as wages, the products and raw materials costing more, with most of them originating abroad, and the imposition and rising costs which traders faced.

The heaviest included the surcharge on electricity and water.

Food prices had gone up in August and will continue to rise this month and in the coming months. The rises were due mostly because of the way the fish-market and the pitkalija vegetable market operated. The world was also facing a crisis in the agriculture sector.

However all this had nothing to do with the euro. No matter what Malta did, there would continue to be price rises. What Malta could do was to ensure that there really was competition, and that the government and other authorities did not continue to pile on costs on shop owners and those selling a service.

Anyone thinking that an open economy such as Malta could move the clock back some 20 years to create price control systems was under a delusion, the GRTU said.