National criteria for qualification for the beauty therapy sector are being drawn up by the Parliamentary Secretariat for Small Business and the Self-Employed and the Education Department, parliamentary secretary Edwin Vassallo said.

When these national minimum criteria are established, it will not mean that people who have been working for years will have to stop because they do not have the necessary qualifications, because the criteria of qualification will also assess experience.

He said the government “does not want to stop people from working, and wants to provide the best atmosphere for our small businesses. Nobody will be prevented from continuing their work – unless they are doing the wrong thing.”

He also spoke about “authorities”, saying no business “can represent itself to other businesses as an authority. The only authorities are those that are government-approved. If the government feels that it can delegate to an authority, it will pass legislation approving such delegation. An authority must be stated by law. Nobody can sell themselves as the only authority for a particular sector in Malta. Even if an entity exists legally in the European Union, in order for it to be recognised in Malta, it must be legislated. Nobody is legally obliged to pay anything to form part of an authority, and nobody has the right to threaten to close a business if they refuse to pay a membership to an organisation or ‘authority’. Only the courts have the legal authority to close an establishment.”

Mr Vassallo was speaking at a meeting organised by the Malta Association for Beauty Therapists.

The primary aim of the meeting was to discuss the issue of recognition of qualifications. Also present at the meeting were Anthony Degiovanni, director (Further Studies and Adult Education), and Magda Magri Naudi, president of the MABT, which was founded in 1993 and has since then become the spokesbody for the sector.

Mr Vassallo congratulated the MABT for the work it has been carrying out.