Facemasks and face shields are back on pharmacy shelves and up for sale again after an agreement was reached for the government to compensate pharmacies for losses they may incur by following the government's imposed price cap.
The announcement comes a few hours after the Chamber of Pharmacists had asked its members to stop selling facemasks and face shields until they receive clarification from the government on a price cap which was announced on Sunday night.
The price cap was announced by Economy Minister Silvio Schembri on Sunday night - the night before new legislation which made the wearing of face masks in retail outlets and public transport mandatory came into effect.
The cap would see facemasks be sold at 95c and face shields be sold at €5 each.
The cap was slammed by the Chamber of Commerce, who said it was "draconian" and "unacceptable", and the Chamber of SMEs, who said that Malta was being taken back 50 years by the imposition of the caps, but Prime Minister Robert Abela said that a compromise would be reached.
However, a statement published by the Chamber of SMEs on Monday evening said that an agreement had been reached which permits pharmacies to start selling the masks and shields again.
"This has been made possible due to a compensation package that has been agreed. This will make up for any losses that pharmacy owners may incur due to wholesale purchases made by them at prices that would not allow them to sell at the new announced price. As such, the temporary ban on the selling of disposable surgical masks is being lifted with immediate effect", the Chamber said in its statement.
The agreement means that the announced price cap will remain the same.
They said that the agreement came after discussions between the Chamber, through its President and Chairman of their healthcare section Paul Abela and Mario Debono, and the Economy Minister Silvio Schembri.
"As part of the discussions, Minister Schembri also assured the SME Chamber that there will also be a revision of the VAT rates on Personal Protective Equipment, in order to further make the price of these items lower to the general public", the Chamber said.
They noted that pharmacies are only selling items that have the correct certification, and that masks and medical items should only be sold by those having a license to do so and falling under the relevant NACE code.
"The Chamber wants to make the general public aware that Pharmacies only sell items that importers supply them at the recommended retail price. A Pharmacy is beyond a normal shop, but a place where one goes for his healthcare needs. All items and markups on items are tightly controlled", they concluded.