09/06/2026
This evening, we are featuring a highly desirable, rare and historically significant MP 38 manufactured by ERMA in 1940. Preserved in its original finish and retaining all matching numbered components, it represents an exceptional opportunity for the discerning collector seeking to invest in a firearm of considerable historical and collectible value.
However, we are also showcasing this important piece to illustrate the deeply flawed position adopted by Malta Customs since December 2022, a position currently being challenged before the Administrative Review Tribunal and one which may ultimately require a preliminary reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
How did we arrive at this point?
The legal framework is straightforward. Fi****ms are generally classified under Chapter 93 of the Combined Nomenclature unless they qualify for classification under Chapter 97, namely as:
1. Collectors' items of historical interest (heading 97.05); or
2. Antiques exceeding 100 years of age (heading 97.06).
For many years, Malta Customs had no difficulty accepting fi****ms under these headings where appropriate. Importers described the items accordingly, and their classification was confirmed by Police ballistic experts during the release process.
This changed with the arrival of a new head of the Customs Binding Tariff Information Unit (BTIU), who adopted a number of novel interpretations and conditions that find no support in either the law or established practice. Among the positions advanced are the following:
1. Fi****ms were mass-produced, hence they cannot be considered rare or collectible;
2. A firearm may only be regarded as historically significant if it is directly associated with a unique event or individual, for example, the weapon used in the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II;
3. A firearm that remains functional cannot qualify under headings 97.05 or 97.06, even where all the legal requirements of those headings are otherwise satisfied.
Had the Customs administration been genuinely committed to ensuring the correct application of the law, these interpretations would have been rejected and replaced by sound and legally supported reasoning, as had always been the case in the past. Instead, the administration chose to endorse them, leaving us with no alternative but to initiate legal proceedings.
Our objective is not merely to defend our own interests and those of licensed collectors, but also to safeguard historical and cultural heritage which, by its very nature, deserves recognition and treatment as such.
Proceedings, which commenced in March 2023, have recently been reassigned to another magistrate. Despite repeated attempts by Customs to obfuscate and advance misleading arguments before the Tribunal, we remain fully committed to pursuing this matter to its conclusion.
Cases such as this transcend the interests of individual collectors. They concern the proper application of the law, the preservation of historical artefacts, and the principle that public authorities must exercise their powers within the limits established by legislation, rather than according to arbitrary interpretations.
We are proud to be able to offer one of the most sought-after and elusive submachine guns of WWII, the German MP38. This excellent example comes...
