Updated 3.15pm

Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba came in for some criticism from the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises on Friday for his initiative to ask the European Commission to investigate food importers over price hikes.

Agius Saliba accused importers of breaching anti-trust rules, saying a few large operators were exploiting the high inflation rate to increase their already hefty profits.

In its statement, the Chamber of SMEs said Malta has its own authorities and clearly defined routes to handle concerns related to issues of competition, something the SME Chamber frequently used to tackle abuse.

But Agius Saliba chose to disregard them and seek the European Commission’s intervention, asking the EU to investigate Maltese businesses.

“It is unfortunately not the first time that the SME Chamber has noted a negative attitude towards businesses by the MEP.

“Out of all the currently sitting MEPs he is the only one who has never sought to engage in any contact, consult or involve the SME Chamber in any way as is his duty to do in order to represent all of Malta’s society,” it said.

The chamber said MEPs are elected on a national level to represent Malta as a whole and cannot disregard and work against businesses, which were a main segment of society.

'My initiative targets the few importers and distributors'

Reacting to the criticism, Agius Saliba said his letter to the Commission was about a small sector of businesses: importers and distributors.

He had nothing against businesses, especially small and medium ones. He said he had met several such businesses over recent months and they all expressed disappointment about being blamed - by their clients - for the exorbitant hike in prices of foodstuffs.

Although his initiative was primarily for the sake of customers, it also benefitted small and medium businesses, he said.

He had not asked the commission to investigate grocery shops and SMEs, but the few importers and distributors that held a monopoly, he added.