Renewal of the ‘Trust You’ scheme for businesses

The Minister for European Funds, Social Dialogue and Consumer Protection, Keith Azzopardi Tanti, together with the Chairperson of the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA), Carmen Ciantar, and the Chief Executive Officer of Servizzi Ewropej f’Malta (SEM), Rodrick Zerafa announced the renewal of the Trust You scheme. The scheme is being renewed through a new framework designed to give greater value to the Trust You mark, strengthen consumer confidence, and recognise those businesses that make a concrete commitment towards good and responsible practices.

The new framework broadens the scope of the scheme by bringing together three important areas of the MCCAA’s work: consumer protection, product safety and compliance, as well as legal metrology, namely the accuracy of measurements used in trade.

The renewed scheme goes beyond being simply a mark displayed at the entrance of a business. Trust You is being developed as a progressive three-tier system – Bronze – Commitment, Silver – Assurance and Gold – Certification – through which businesses will be able to demonstrate increasingly higher levels of commitment and compliance. The first phase will begin with the Bronze level, with businesses able to progress from one level to another according to the progress they make.

Minister Keith Azzopardi Tanti emphasised that a scheme such as this demonstrates how the Government is delivering on its commitments in practice. He also said that through this initiative, “we are giving consumers greater peace of mind, while at the same time recognising those businesses that maintain compliance, operate responsibly and place the customer at the centre of their work.”

MCCAA Chairperson Carmen Ciantar said that “as an Authority, we are sending a clear message that our role is not solely one of enforcement. Enforcement remains an essential part of our responsibilities, but a modern regulator must also educate, guide, encourage compliance and recognise good practice.”