The National Euro Changeover Committee has received 4,752 applications from business and shop owners who would like to join the Fair-pricing Agreements in Retailing (Fair) initiative.
NECC told The Malta Independent that 2,542 businesses have been accredited so far, while the Euro observatory is processing the pending applications. A few hundreds still needed to comply with the requirements before receiving the Fair accreditation.
The initiative was introduced in January, paving the way for the voluntary phase of dual display of prices in Maltese lira and euro.
While dual display of prices in both currencies would become mandatory as from July, the Fair initiative is intended for businesses to gain the trust of consumers and instil confidence in them during the process leading to e-day, scheduled for 1 January 2008.
The European Commission is expected to publish Malta’s convergence report on euro adoption on Wednesday. This will give a clear indication as to whether or not the country is ready to join the single currency next January.
As the name suggests, the Fair initiative seeks to guarantee fairness and transparency, promoting consumer confidence as early as possible, even though the dual display mandatory period starts in July.
From now on, businesses intending to display both currencies will need to subscribe to the Fair initiative.
Subscribers will be committing themselves to fair-pricing strategies during the euro changeover process. Essentially, this means that businesses will be committing themselves to show the correct prices in both currencies according to the central parity rate of e1:Lm0.4293.
Once they are accredited, businesses are awarded the Fair logo as an indication that their outlet will be adhering to best practices established for the euro changeover period.
In return, the NECC provides nationwide publicity for all Fair businesses, encouraging consumers to look for the Fair logo. The NECC also provides staff training at no charge, as well as the opportunity to use the euro campaign mark on all their adverts and promotional material.
Each participating organisation is being supplied with a business starter kit consisting of a training DVD, a dual display calculator, a dual display price gun, conversion charts and information material.
NECC public and media relations manager Melvyn Mangion said that, thanks to the Fair initiative, awareness about euro adoption had increased considerably and people were gradually starting to think in euro.
“Next week’s convergence report will clearly indicate whether Malta has passed the test to adopt the second strongest currency in the world. Should we pass this test, the NECC’s campaign will intensify in the coming months,” he said.
Euro Observatory officials will ensure that those participating in the scheme fulfil their commitments, although the ultimate aim of both the NECC and the observatory is to educate and train representatives from every entity, so that the process leading to the adoption of the euro will be as smooth as possible.
An application to participate in the Fair initiative can be downloaded from www.euro.gov.mt and should be sent to the Euro Observatory, Level 2, Mangion House, Triq Dun Karm, Birkirkara BKR 03.