The Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises (GRTU) to suspend, with immediate effect, the eco contribution reform on beers, wines and water.

In a statement, it said it deplored the direction taken since the eco contribution legislation was one of the worst pieces of legislation ever drafted.

"It is effectively a tax that only distorts market fairness and in no way favours the environment.

"GRTU was always against businesses paying their environmental dues twice - once in the form of eco tax and once to an authorised scheme that took care of their environmental obligations.

"We therefore requested government to remove the eco contribution so that it would make sense for producers and importers to join an authorised scheme in respect to  packaging waste.

"To ensure a fair and level playing field for the law abiding businesses, adequate enforcement would be put in place as well as adequate penalties and administrative fines that would discourage non-compliance," it said.

The GRTU said this was somewhat achieved in 2009 when authorised scheme members started to become exempt from eco-contribution.

"Substituting eco contribution with excise tax clearly ignores any progress made and puts us six  years backwards," the chamber said.

It said that the only way to stop abuse was through enforcement, which had always been a farce.

"We have 60 police officers enforcing the Birds Directive and none to enforce the Packaging Waste Directive," the GRTU said.