An entrepreneur whose electric food truck from China reached a dead end before his business even got started has chronicled a “bureaucratic nightmare” that culminated in the vehicle’s destruction – the only solution to the ordeal.

Over a year ago, Shane Rowe purchased the truck from a Chinese company, eager to expand Yardie’s, a small family-run coffee distribution business, by selling the Jamaican Blue Mountain brew on Malta’s streets.

But before he knew it, the plan ground to a halt and he was battling to overcome hurdles to be able to smash his new vehicle – the only way he could plug the draining cost of daily fees to keep it in customs limbo.

Rowe estimated that he lost just over €23,000. Breaking down the investment that went nowhere, he said the truck and shipping cost almost €20,000, with an extra €800 just to keep the vehicle at the port for an additional three weeks. He paid a further €1,500 to the destruction company just to see his investment crushed.

Despite the loss of the vehicle, Shane says his dreams for Yardie’s coffee have not been crushed.

It turned out that, despite his checks and assurance, the electric vehicle was non-compliant with EU standards and could not be allowed entry into the country; that the Chinese supplier refused it back on these grounds; and that the only route was to demolish it.

That option, however, also hit a brick wall when Rowe was informed by Transport Malta that the vehicle could not even be scrapped because it had to be registered first. And this was not possible.

Meanwhile, the family’s financial burdens were becoming increasingly untenable as the vehicle remained stuck at customs, incurring daily costs.

When Rowe sought to buy the electric food truck in March 2023, he said the supplier had assured him it would meet necessary EU regulations and that he would not face any issues.

After paying €20,000 to import his vehicle, he paid an extra €800 just to keep the vehicle at the port and then €1,500 to scrap it.

Based on this, an unsuspecting Rowe proceeded with the purchase.

He contacted Transport Malta to ask what was needed to import the vehicle and was provided a list that included a Certificate of Conformity (CoC).

Returning to the supplier’s website, Rowe saw the CoC listed, and noted it claimed to comply with EU regulations.

By April last year, the purchase agreement and payment were made, “following further discussions and reassurances”.

While the supplier had initially quoted shipping costs at around €500, a year later, when it was time to ship the truck, these had increased “significantly and unexpectedly” to over €4,000, Rowe noted, adding he had no choice but to proceed at that point.

To have everything in order, he contacted a customs clearance agent as the food truck made its way to Malta in June. One of the first things he was asked was whether he had spoken to the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.

The agent advised him to seek the authority’s approval of the CoC, and Rowe sent it over, only to be informed it covered certain aspects of the vehicle, including electrical work, but did not comply with EU regulations.

With the truck already en route to Malta, Rowe repeatedly contacted the supplier to obtain the correct CoC and any other necessary documentation, but he said they were unable to provide it.

So, when it arrived on June 16, its business journey, which was about to start, stalled abruptly. It was stuck at customs due to “insufficient documentation provided by the supplier”, Rowe said, explaining it was classified as a food cart rather than an electric vehicle.

According to the customs clearance agent, the typical solution in such cases was to return the shipment to the country of origin. Despite the vehicle’s non-compliance, Rowe said the supplier refused to cooperate and accept the cargo, leaving him with no viable alternative.

Even scrapping the vehicle proved problematic. The truck could not be demolished because it was not yet registered. And it could not be registered because it was non-compliant.

Rowe tried every road, turning to various officials and entities, including the Transport Ministry, to support him. He sought assistance from the Chinese Embassy in Malta and the Maltese Embassy in China but said this did not lead to any resolution, and the supplier continued to “shun responsibility”.

“Both embassies informed me they had no jurisdiction in the matter. The Maltese embassy attempted to help by directing me to a customs clearance agent, but I already had two working on the case,” he said.

“The agents advised that it was unprecedented for a company to refuse to take back cargo with incorrect documentation,” Rowe said.

Facing this impasse, he had no choice but to begin to explore the only way out – scrapping the vehicle before he put it to any use. However, even that proved to be fraught with complications and a Catch-22 situation: the truck could not be demolished because it was not yet registered. And it could not be registered because it was non-compliant.

The aspiring entrepreneur started to lose steam. But he continued to chug on, as the costs to keep the vehicle at the wharf increased daily.

He worked with TM and MCCAA to find a solution and, eventually, an exception was made to release the vehicle from customs for destruction.

But even the process of coordinating this frustrating twist faced delays. Rowe contacted the approved destruction facility and continued to plead for expedited release to minimise the “immense financial burden and emotional strain” on his family.

Yardie’s was finally smashed to pieces on July 19 thanks to a bureaucratic nightmare with no clear resolution in sight.

I was simply trying to start a business and contribute to the economy

While he recognised the blind spots in some of the actions he took, he pointed to the irony of spending weeks chasing multiple organisations for the possibility to destroy his own truck.

“As an aspiring entrepreneur, I was simply trying to start a business and contribute to the economy,” he said, adding it has been a “tough lesson”.

Rowe chose to highlight the vehicle shipment issue to avoid others experiencing similar pitfalls.

And while it has been a costly journey, he said he did not feel it was a road to nowhere and his hopes and dreams for Yardie’s coffee have not been crushed.