Consumers to pay more for sugary drinks

The 10 per cent excise tax on sweetened beverages will double as of next month, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced Monday.

She said the increased excise tax on these drinks will come against the background of a high incidence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

“The high consumption of foods with high sugar and high salt continues to undermine the efforts to fight chronic NCDs,”

Mottley said as she delivered her first Budget since 2019.

“I therefore now propose to further raise the excise tax on sweetened beverages – it was raised to 10 per cent in 2017, and we will now raise it, from April 1, 2022, to 20 per cent as a further signal to all manufacturers and consumers that we need to curb our sugar intake”.

The Prime Minister said the Ministry of Health and Wellness will work with stakeholders to further identify those items with high salt content to impose a similar tariff mid-year.

“October when we come to the mid-year review, we intend to put other products with high salt content on this list,” she said.

Mottley disclosed that it was her Government’s intention to work with large and small manufacturers to reduce the high sugar and salt content in some products.

“It is always our preference to work with manufacturers of these sweetened beverages to reduce the level of these sugars and salts and, therefore, the Ministry of Health and Wellness will develop nutritional guidelines with sugar and salt content that are acceptable. Manufacturers, including those within communities, will be given the appropriate timeframe to transition to the new standards.

“The onus, my friends, is on manufacturers to fall within these guidelines rather than to have a Minister of Finance intervene at the level of taxation. Drop the level of sugar, drop the level of salt, and the level of prices would drop concomitantly,” she said. (SB)