Government, medicine importers disagree on pending dues

A third of the outstanding €30 million which the government owes to medicine importers was paid in the last few weeks, according to the Finance Ministry.

But the amount is disputed by the importers' representative who says that only about €4 million have been paid. The figure of €10 million "is far from the truth", said Reginald Fava, who represents the importers at the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise. The ministry gave the figure in answer to questions by The Times in the wake of comments made by Social Policy Minister John Dalli, who recently said importers could not be paid because the Finance Ministry was holding back the funds.

At a breakfast meeting Mr Dalli said: "The Finance Ministry is the stopper here. We are negotiating with the ministry to give us the money."

He had also criticised the ministry for not honouring the 150-day timeframe in which payment must be made, leaving some 200 importers with unpaid bills to the tune of €30 million in all. When confronted with the importers' claim that only €4 million have been paid, the ministry stuck to its figure. A spokesman said the discrepancy could be explained because the government's payments are not made directly and it could take banks a while to transfer the money.

He also said the Chamber does not represent all importers.

However, beyond the dispute, the spokesman did not have a definitive answer on when the importers should expect to be paid in full. "We're working on it," was all he could say.

Medicine importers have been sharply critical of the delays; 40 per cent of the outstanding bills have been owed for over six months.

Back in 2005, the Chamber was forced to accept an agreement with the government under which money owed to its members would be paid within 150 days, gradually to be reduced to 90 days. In return, they were made to waive interest on such late payment and the government waived penalties for late consignments. However, importers recently highlighted that the government was not keeping its end of the bargain and was charging the importers up to €1 million in penalties.