It is good to note that the government has refrained from publishing the legal notice required to activate the latest 15c eco-tax proposed in the Budget speech on all plastic carrier bags, whether degradable or not.

Surprisingly however, the GRTU issued a statement (Vince Farrugia, Bay Radio 6.30pm News Bulletin, Tuesday 30 December 2008) exhorting retailers to “eradicate the use of plastic carrier bags” by charging the customer this eco-tax of 15c as proposed in the last budget plus an additional mark-up of 7c as profit, in spite of being aware that the relevant legal notice has not been published.

This means that this eco-tax, if collected, cannot even be passed on to the VAT department, as the latter has no official instructions in this regard and therefore does not have the necessary accounting set-up to receive such a tax.

Even more confusing is the fact that just two days later, the same GRTU issued another statement urging the retailers “to challenge the government eco-tax on plastic carrier bags” (Vince Farrugia, ToM, Friday 2 January).

The GRTU would have portrayed itself as a more trustworthy union had it urged its members to insist on using only degradable polyethylene carrier bags, like the type produced locally and which carry an eco-tax of only 2c each since they are meant to disintegrate after use, and according to the only official Legal Notice of the 2005 Eco-Contribution Act.

On the other hand, it should oppose outright those retailers who purchase or acquire those conventional plastic carrier bags, which are imported illegally without paying the appropriate eco-tax of 14c for each bag (because they are not degradable), as per the same Legal Notice of the 2005 Eco-Contribution Act.

Furthermore, the GRTU should put the necessary pressure on the government to create an effective set-up to control this illegal importation.

Consequently, the GRTU would be aiding retailers not to have to opt for alternative more expensive means of flexible packaging and at the same time safeguarding the employment of all those Maltese workers involved in the manufacture of degradable polyethylene carrier bags produced locally.

Mario Tabone

Valletta