Business quality certification encouraged by government

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech during his visit to St Anthony Woodworks.Quality certification could increase international business opportunities for local enterprises and the new Quality scheme could allow businesses to be refunded for expenses incurred after investing in certification.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech today launched the new scheme which is EU funded and could allow small and medium enterprises to invest and expand.

“The initiative created by the government and the Malta Enterprise aims to provide incentives for businesses to expand, improve, create employment opportunities and contribute to strengthening economic stability,” Fenech said.

Fenech explained that this would allow local enterprises to equally compete on an international level to export local products.

Visiting St Anthony Woodworks in Mosta, one of the enterprises to benefit from the government scheme, Fenech said the company proved how beneficial the scheme could be.

“Upon entering the EU, the furniture manufacturing industry was expected to be at greatest risk due to the increased availability of international furniture. St Anthony Woodworks contradicted this and invested, using the ERDF scheme, to expand, successfully improve its efficiency and product,” Fenech said.

Chairman of the Malta Enterprise Alan Camilleri said that through the Quality programme, enterprises could benefit from a 150% deduction from taxable income of the value of their approved investment.

“This means business owners can be refunded up to half of the amount invested in the enterprise. The scheme is not only available for the manufacturing sector and different certificates are available,” Camilleri said.

The scheme is also applicable for those companies who want a license to franchise and those exercising due diligence to get the license to participate in a particular market.

The ME chairman also said that advisory services would also be provided by Malta Enterprise which would allocate consultants to different companies.

The eligible costs of up to €20,000 include consultancy and training expenses, and costs of auditing or verification of certification.

Among others, companies can be eligible for Quality assistance when gaining certifications and quality marks such as ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001, ISO 22000, MS1500:2004, Hazard Analysis Critical and Control Point (HACCP), BSI Kitemark and the CE Mark.

St Anthony Woodworks is one of the local companies which has already taken the initiative and achieved the ISO 9001:2008 quality certification after implementing several procedures for quality administration.

The company’s accounts and administration executive, Brian Zammit said: “Our products are all for the local market and although we were faced with challenges when entering the EU, the Malta Enterprise ERDF grant scheme has improved our services and efficiency.”

With every new machine purchased for the company, Zammit said in-house training was provided for different persons to operate each machine.

Zammit added that the company was MSA certified for quality management and while it was not easy to achieve, the investment and certification improved their business opportunities.

To date, 570 business owners have collectively benefited from €35 million provided by industry aid schemes co-financed by the EU funds for regional development and almost €80 million has been invested by owners for new projects. 

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