The ministry was reacting to a statement issued by the Malta Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises (GRTU) on Wednesday,which said that the ministry was implementing a total smoking ban in breach of an agreement it had reached with the GRTU earlier this year.

The law says people can smoke in bars and other catering establishments that have the appropriate facilities – rooms that are physically separate from areas where smoking is not permitted, the ministry’s statement said.

Furthermore, it is dishonest for the GRTU to say that the ministry used the Standards Authority to reach its objectives. The Malta Standards Authority was asked to prepare the necessary technical specifications regarding air quality, following an agreement between the GRTU and the government. It was also agreed that both parties would honour the specifications suggested by the authority, the statement added.

However for some unexplained reason, the GRTU representatives decided not to attend the last two meetings, when the committee was finalising the details of the MSA specifications.

The GRTU had also said that there was a meeting between them and the ministry in which agreement was reached on the implementation of these regulations.

“This is absolutely not the case,” said the ministry. In April, the ministry had given the chamber a draft of the amendments to the regulations, to which it had to send its reaction within 24 hours. This reaction, the statement said, never reached the ministry.

Enough time has been given to those involved for them to take the necessary steps to conform with the regulations that will come into force on 5 October.

Meanwhile, the GRTU issued a statement reiterating its position. The statement said that the facts now contradict what senior officials of the ministry used to say. The regulations now make it impossible for people to smoke in any small establishment.

The regulations say that establishments should have a closed room with special equipment, as is the case with passenger aircraft. But no small bar can comply with these regulations, said the GRTU.