S.L. 549.176 Art. 7Registration and information.    S.L. 549.39.

(1) Producers or authorised representatives shall, during the calendar year of placing fishing gear containing plastic on the market within the territory of Malta, apply to be registered with the competent authority and shall be provided with a registration number upon registration. Producers shall make the registration number clearly visible on their invoices and fiscal receipts.

(2) Producers registered under sub-regulation (1) shall renew their registration on an annual basis with the competent authority by the 31st March of each year:

Provided that as from 1st April of each year, the competent authority shall accept renewals until the end of the year subject to the payment of an additional fee of twenty euro (€20) per month or part thereof, together with the fees prescribed in paragraph

(c) of sub-regulation (3).

(3) An application for registration or renewal by a producer (FISHING GEAR CONTAINING PLASTIC)

shall:

(a) be made either online or in writing;

(b) be signed by any of the authorised signatories referred to in Schedule 3; and

(c) be accompanied by a fee of ten euro (€10) for online registration or thirty five euro (€35) for manual registration.

(4) A producer shall not be deemed to be registered or to have renewed his registration until an acknowledgement notice is issued by the competent authority, approving the producer’s application for registration or renewal. The competent authority shall issue the acknowledgement notice within:

(a) one (1) month from the date of receipt of a duly filled in application for registration or renewal, including the payment of any fees as referred to in sub-article (3)(c); or

(b) one (1) month after the date of receipt of any information or details requested by the competent authority in relation to such application, including the payment of any fees as stipulated in sub-regulation (3)(c), whichever comes later.

(5) Where a producer ceases to place fishing gear containing plastic on the market, the producer shall apply for deregistration with the competent authority within the following year of his ceasing to do so. An application for deregistration shall be signed by any of the authorised signatories referred to in Schedule 3.

(6) Without prejudice to the obligations and liabilities of the person applying for deregistration relating to the time when the person was a registered producer, the competent authority shall terminate a person’s registration with effect from the last day of the year during which such person ceased to be liable to be registered, and shall notify that person in writing:

Provided that any pending information shall be submitted by the person to the competent authority upon applying for de-registration in accordance with sub-regulation (5).

(7) Any producer who either fails to apply for registration in accordance to this regulation or who fails to renew his registration by the end of the year, shall be liable to an administrative penalty as prescribed in Schedule 5.

(8) An authorised producer responsibility organisation may register or renew the registration of a producer on his behalf, subject to the consent of the said producer. In such cases, the authorised producer responsibility organisation shall be responsible for adhering to the provisions of this regulation, including payment of the administrative penalty mentioned in sub-regulation (7), and the Authority may liaise with the authorised producer responsibility organisation in relation to such provisions.

(9) An application for registration in accordance with regulation 6 shall contain the information set out in Part A of Schedule 4 whilst the application for renewal shall contain at least the reporting information set out in Part B of Schedule 4.

(10) In the case the data submitted in accordance with sub-regulation (9) changes, the relevant producer or where relevant, the authorised producer responsibility organisation on his behalf, shall inform the competent authority thereof not later than one (1) month after the change.

(11) The information referred to in sub-regulation (9) shall be provided either online or in writing and shall be signed by any of the authorised signatories referred to in Schedule 3.

(12) It shall be the responsibility of a registered producer to retain for a minimum of five (5) years the information referred to in sub-regulation (9). Such records shall be made available to the competent authority upon request.

(13) Where a producer or where relevant, the authorised producer responsibility organisation on his behalf, fails or refuses to submit a complete application within one (1) month of the date of a request by the competent authority for such application, the competent authority shall refuse the application.

(14) Without prejudice to commercial and industrial confidentiality, the information referred to in sub-regulation (9) shall be made available in accordance with the Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment Regulations.

(15) Producers or third parties acting on their behalf may provide, on a voluntary basis, further data on fishing gear containing plastic as is available, which may include, data on inter alia, production, exports and imports and specific sub-fractions of such gear.