Maltese imports and exports are weeks away from getting more expensive as an EU-wide surcharge on shipping increases, a sectoral lobby group has warned.
Malta’s Association of Tractor and Trailer Operators (ATTO) said the extra Emissions Trading System and fuel surcharge that is due to come into force on January 1, 2026 will cost local operators a total of €16.5 million a year.
That cost, it added, will lead to higher prices for consumers, less competitive local businesses and extra pressure on national supply chains.
A single trailer operating a round trip between Genoa and Malta will, as of January, have to pay an additional €734.40 to cover ETS and fuel surcharge costs, ATTO said.
Sectoral players note that around 60 per cent of trailers operating that route return to Genoa empty, as Malta imports more than it exports. They will nevertheless have to pay the extra charge on that return leg.
The EU’s ETS directive obliges ships to surrender Emission Unit Allowances (EUAs) to compensate for their carbon dioxide emissions and is part of the union’s drive to encourage cleaner forms of transportation.
While the directive includes derogations to not penalise passenger ships, that does not extend to merchant shipping.
The directive came into force in 2024, when ETS charges were set at 40 per cent of verified emissions. In 2025 that rose to 70 per cent and come January 1, it will rise to 100 per cent.
ATTO has consistently lobbied for the EU to be flexible in its implementation of the ETS scheme, arguing that an island nation like Malta should not be forced to pay a 100 per cent surcharge when it has no other way of transporting goods.
“These costs are not only exorbitant, but they punish Malta for being an island,” said ATTO chairman Joseph Bugeja, adding that “these costs will ultimately and inevitably be passed on to Malta’s consumers and industry”.
ATTO chairman Joseph Bugeja.
“Malta does not have the option of overland transport. Unlike mainland states, our supply chains are entirely dependent on maritime connections. There is no alternative route to market. Every surcharge imposed on trailer movements is, in reality, a surcharge on the Maltese consumer, economy and competitiveness,” added Bugeja.
The association warned that applying ETS charges without island-specific mitigation measures “undermines competitiveness, fuels inflation, and places Maltese industry at a structural disadvantage within the Single Market.”
“For Maltese consumers and businesses, this situation is no longer sustainable and the crucial question that must be answered is: should Maltese consumers, as Europeans continue to be penalised for being citizens of an island state?” Bugeja asked.