MALTA CRAFTS COUNCIL ACT *

MALTA CRAFTS COUNCIL

CHAPTER 421

MALTA CRAFTS COUNCIL ACT *

AN ACT to make provision for the encouragement, promotion and

regulation of crafts and craftsmen, in particular crafts forming part of

Malta’s historical heritage, for the setting up of a national crafts council to

be called the Malta Crafts Council and for matters ancillary to or

connected therewith.

21st November, 2000

ACT XXI of 2000 , as amended by Act X of 2013 .

The title of this Act is Malta Crafts Council Act.

(Article 4)

1. The elected members of the Council shall, subject to the

provisions of this Schedule, be elected for a period of two years.

2. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, elections shall

be held three months before the expiry of the term of office of the

then current members.

3. Only registered craftsmen shall be eligible to vote for the

members of the Council referred to in article 4(2)(g).

4. Only registered entrepreneurs shall be eligible to vote for

the members of the Council referred to in paragraph of article

4(2)(h).

5. Elections shall be held under the supervision of the

Secretary who shall publish a call for nominations one month

before the date of the poll.

6. Nominations, to be signed by a person eligible to vote in

the election and accepted by the signature of the candidate, shall be

received by the Secretary up to two weeks before the date of the

poll.

7. The date and place of the poll shall be published in the

Gazette by the Secretary at least fifteen days before the date of the

poll.

8. The list of candidates shall be posted at the place of the

poll for at least four days before the day of the poll up to and

including the day of the poll itself.

MALTA CRAFTS COUNCIL

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -

"the Council" means the Malta Crafts Council set up under

article 4;

"craft" means an art, skill or trade, declared by the Minister to be

a craft for the purposes of this Act and practised by a person or

persons in the manufacture of artefacts and other products and

generally requiring in their manufacturing a greater input of human

skill than of machinery;

"craftsman" means a person who practises a Maltese craft and

earns his living by or supplements his income by that Maltese craft

or who proves that he possesses the ability to produce Maltese craft

products;

"entrepreneur" means a person, whether an individual or a

juridical person, who by way of trade deals in Maltese craft

products;

"Maltese craft" means a craft generally reflecting the traditions

and heritage of the Maltese islands;

"Maltese craft products" means products of Maltese crafts

manufactured in Malta;

"marks" for the purpose of article 7 includes hallmarks and

labels;

"the Minister" means the Minister responsible for industry.

The Minister may by Order under this Act declare an art,

skill, trade or industry to be a Maltese craft for the purposes of this

Act and may by like Order amend, revoke or substitute an Order so

made.

(1) There shall be a council which shall be an autonomous

non-profit making body to be known as the Malta Crafts Council

which shall have the functions, powers and duties set out in this

Act.

(2)

The Council shall consist of -

*Repealed by Act XXVI.2020.10.

MALTA CRAFTS COUNCIL

(a) the Director of Industry ex officio who shall be

Chairman;

(b) a Deputy Chairman appointed by the Minister;

(c) an officer serving in the Ministry responsible for

education or the departments falling under the

responsibility of that Ministry, appointed by the

Minister with the concurrence of the Minister

responsible for education;

(d) an officer serving in the Ministry responsible for Gozo

or the departments, or sections of departments, falling

under the responsibility of that Ministry appointed by

the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister

responsible for Gozo;

(e) an officer serving in the Ministry responsible for

agriculture and fisheries or departments falling under

the responsibility of that Ministry, appointed by the

Minister with the concurrence of the Minister

responsible for agriculture and fisheries;

(f) an officer serving in the Ministry responsible for

tourism or the departments falling under the

responsibility of that Ministry, appointed by the

Minister with the concurrence of the Minister

responsible for tourism;

(g) a member, appointed by the Minister, who shall be

representing a legally constituted organisation

representing entrepreneurs;

(h) three representatives to be elected by and from among

craftsmen registered with the Council; and

(i) a representative to be elected by and from among

entrepreneurs registered with the Council.

(3) The Minister shall designate an officer not below the rank

of Senior Principal, or such other rank as the Minister may

prescribe, and serving in a department falling under his Ministry, to

act as Secretary to the Council.

(4)

(a) The members of the Council shall hold office in an

honorary capacity and, save for the elected members,

shall hold office for such term as may be stated in their

appointment or until such time as the Minister shall

appoint another person to replace them.

(b) The elected members of the Council shall be so elected

and shall so hold office as provided in the Schedule to

this Act.

(5) A person shall not be eligible to be a member of the Council if

he has been convicted of any -

(a) crime against property and public safety;

(b) crime against public trust;

(c) crime against public trade; or

(d) offence under the Trade Descriptions Act.

MALTA CRAFTS COUNCIL

(6)

A person shall cease to be a member of the Council if -

(a) he is no longer eligible to be appointed or elected as a

member; or

(b) in the case of a person appointed by the Minister, if

another member is appointed in his stead; or

(c) in the case of an elected member, if he resigns his

office in writing to the Minister; or

(d) in any other case as provided in this Act or the

Schedule thereto.

(7) The Council may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its

composition.

(8) The Chairman shall, and in his absence the Deputy

Chairman shall, preside over the meetings of the Council; in the

absence of both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman, the

members present shall elect one of the appointed members to

preside over the meeting.

(9)

(a) The quorum at the meetings of the Council shall be of

six members; if no quorum is present at the time for

which a meeting is convened, the meeting shall

commence after thirty minutes, provided that no

decision of the Council shall be valid unless it is

supported by at least four members of the Council, one

of whom being a member appointed by the Minister.

(b) The Chairman or the member presiding at a meeting

shall have an original, and in the case of an equality of

votes, a second or casting vote.

(c) The Council may ask any person as it may deem fit to

attend meetings of the Council to advise it on any

matter before the Council, and such persons shall not

be entitled to vote at such meetings.

(d) Otherwise, the

Council

shall

regulate

its

own

procedures.

(10) The Chairman shall enforce the decisions of the Council

through the agency of his department, or of other departments of

Government or through other bodies, agencies or persons, after

consultation with the Council.

(11) The Secretary shall keep minutes of meetings and send

notices convening meetings of the Council.

(12) The Council shall meet at least once a month and shall be

convened on such date and time as may be directed by the

Chairman or as may be requested by any five of its members.

(13) The judicial representation of the Council shall vest in the

Chairman or such other member as the Council shall appoint for

particular purposes. Any such appointment shall be notified in the

Gazette.

(1) The Minister shall provide the Council with such

facilities as in his opinion may be required for the proper

MALTA CRAFTS COUNCIL

performance of its functions.

(2) The decisions of the Council shall be communicated by the

Secretary to the Minister.

(1)

The Council shall have the following functions

(a) to register craftsmen and entrepreneurs in accordance

with such rules as may be prescribed;

(b) to promote a steady interest, appreciation, promotion

and regulation of Maltese crafts in particular and in

Maltese crafts in general among all sectors of the

community both resident and foreign;

(c) to support and safeguard the interests of craftsmen

through the promotion of studies for the identification

of raw materials, design, market research and sales

programmes;

(d) to promote the revival of traditional Maltese crafts;

(e) to promote the creation of opportunities for the

production of Maltese craft products;

(f) to establish a voluntary certification system whereby

the genuineness of Maltese craft products is

guaranteed and to regulate and supervise such system;

(g) to advise the Minister on all aspects of Maltese crafts,

generally and in particular in the formulation of a

national policy on Maltese crafts, and in the making of

regulations under this Act;

(h) to advise on the implementation of, and to monitor, the

national policy on Maltese crafts;

(i) to establish international contacts with the aim of

enhancing Maltese crafts;

(j) to perform any other function as may be assigned to it

under this or any other law.

(2) For the performance of its functions under this Act the

Council may with the concurrence of the Minister utilise such

funds as may be assigned to it by the Government from time to time

and as may be donated or bequeathed to the Council by other

persons.

(3) The Council shall be exempt from the payment of income

tax or of duty on documents or transfers.

The Minister may after consultation with the Council make

regulations for the better carrying out of the provisions of this Act

and may in particular by such regulations

(a) regulate the registration of craftsmen and

entrepreneurs;

(b) provide for a system under the supervision of the

Council for the certification of the genuineness of

Maltese craft products and the materials used in their

production;

MALTA CRAFTS COUNCIL

(c) establish the qualifications that craftsmen producing

Maltese craft products are to possess;

(d) provide for the certification of craftsmen producing

Maltese craft products;

(e) establish such marks that indicate the genuineness of

Maltese craft products as marks of conformity issued

by virtue of the Malta Standards Authority Act;

(f) amend or substitute the Schedule to this Act;

(g) generally to regulate the activities of craftsmen and

entrepreneurs; and

(h) prescribe any matter that in accordance with this Act is

to be prescribed.

The provisions of article 4(2)(g) and (h) shall not come

into force before the lapse of such period, being of not less that six

months, after the making of regulations under article 7(a), during

which period craftsmen and entrepreneurs may register for the

purposes of this Act.

Elections are to be by secret ballot, voters for the members

referred to in article 4(2)(g) shall vote for three candidates and

shall show their preference by placing an X in front of the name of

the candidates preferred.

Voters for the members referred to in article 4(2)(h) shall

vote for two candidates and the other provisions of paragraph 9 of

this Schedule shall mutatis mutandis apply.

Elected members may not serve for more than three

consecutive terms of office and shall not be eligible to be

candidates for a fourth consecutive term.

The candidates with the highest number of votes shall be

declared elected. The votes shall be counted by the Secretary and

two election commissioners elected for that purpose from amongst

those present during the same meeting.

The result of the election shall be published in the Gazette.

If an elected member resigns, his place shall be filled by

the non-elected candidate obtaining the next highest number of

votes. Such member shall serve for the remaining period of the

term of office of the resigning member.

If all the elected members under article 4(2)(g) or (h)

resign en bloc, a fresh election shall be held for members under the

said paragraph (g) or (h) as the case may be within three months

from the date of resignation. The members elected under such an

election shall serve for a full term of two years.

Where not enough candidates are nominated, the vacancy

shall be filled by the Minister who shall act on the advice of the

remaining members of the Council.

Voting shall be in person and no person may appoint a

proxy to vote in his stead.

An annual general meeting of all registered craftsmen and

an annual general meeting of all registered entrepreneurs shall be

held in January of each year.

Extraordinary general meetings shall be held when a call

therefor is made in writing and signed by at least twenty percent of

all registered craftsmen, or twenty per cent of all registered

entrepreneurs, as the case may be; the Chairman shall convene such

extraordinary general meeting within four weeks of such a request

being made.

The quorum at general meetings shall be thirty members

eligible to attend and vote thereat.

If a quorum is not present at the time at which the meeting

is to commence, the meeting shall commence thirty minutes after

that time and the persons present at that time shall constitute a

quorum.

The Chairman shall preside at general meetings. Notice of

general meetings shall be distributed to the registered persons and

published in the Gazette by the Secretary not later than one week

before the date of the meeting.

MALTA CRAFTS COUNCIL

At annual general meetings the Chairman shall give a

report of the activities of the Council during the previous calendar

year.

At general meetings the persons present may call for the

resignation of the elected members to which the meeting refers, and

if such a call is supported by the majority of members present, the

elected members shall be considered as having resigned

Provided that no such call shall be valid unless it is

supported by at least thirty persons entitled to vote for the election

of such members. Otherwise, a decision of a general meeting is

valid if supported by a majority of persons present.

General meetings may on a motion make suggestions for

activities and action by the Council.

The Council may, for disciplinary reasons to be provided

for in regulations, suspend the rights of a craftsman or an

entrepreneur, as the case may be, from attending and voting at

general meetings or at elections. The decision of the Council in

such matters shall be final.