Mr Fenech said that the Santa Maria feast was the highlight of commercial activity during summer for the leisure and hospitality sector. “There could not be a worse time to implement this legal notice, especially given the fact that this law has been in place for six years. One of the brands of beverages lifted is among the most popular products sold during the season.”

Citing the six-year-old legal notice, Mepa officials and police officers, on 4 August, confiscated a large quantity of energy drinks, in cans and bottles, from, factories, warehouses and a private residence.

The measure immediately sparked controversy, with one of the importers, actually taking the authority to court, saying that the action taken against their company, was in breach of its right to free trade. The plaintiff in question even said that they will be taking the issue up with the European Commission with the intention of having the legal notice declared incompatible with EU law.

The legal notice specifies that non-alcoholic (carbonated, flav-oured and containing less that two per cent alcohol), beverages may only be traded and consumed in refillable glass bottles, subject to a deposit and return scheme.

However, various sources from the industry told TMID that there were discussions going on between them and the authorities regarding the implementation, or rather an adjustment, of the legal notice. The law clearly discriminates on a number of products and could be considered to be in breach of EU law, they said.

Involved parties are mostly questioning the heavy handed way in which the law was enforced after such a long time, without notice, not even giving importers the time to get rid of their stock.