Of these, 754 were new, bringing the total of new licences issued since May 2002 to 2,415. In the first eight months this year, four licences were issued without a permit from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, 265 already had a permit, 14 were issued for a change of use while 195 were issued for a change in ownership. In addition, 91 licences were issued to street hawkers and 108 were issued to market hawkers.

Touring a number of marine retail outlets in Gzira, Mr Vassallo questioned whether it was time for some outlets to start operating with a Mepa permit rather than having to wait for a licence to be issued by the Trade Licences Unit, and, if so, to which retail outlets would this apply.

Mr Vassallo also suggested the setting up of a one-stop shop for logistics with the Trade Licensing Unit acting as the agent for these firms. He also asked whether it was the time to have an authority issuing trade licences rather than several government authorities each issuing licences for those retail outlets that fall under their jurisdiction.