MPs support higher taxes on ‘soft’ drinks

Two days after the announcement of a 100 per cent hike in taxes imposed on sugar-sweetened beverages, one government minister is suggesting that it may need to be increased even further to “save our children”.

This declaration has come from Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Water Resources Dr Romel Springer, who said a more robust approach was required to discourage consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages given the high rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on the island.

He made the suggestion on Wednesday in Parliament, as debate continued on the Appropriations Bill, 2022.

Springer recalled that when he worked in the Ministry of Education that ministry was working closely with the Heart and Stroke Foundation to encourage healthier foods in schools.

However, he said, with children being out of school for the past two years and with the restrictions, many children were perhaps now overweight and therefore, Government would need to do more to help dampen the appetite of children for sugar-sweetened beverages.

“Many of the non-communicable diseases that are manifested in adults have their genesis in their childhood days. We would have lost two years to COVID, we would have lost two years where children were forced to stay inside and stay inactive and chances are many of those children have become overweight as a result of inactivity,” said Springer.

“So now we have even a more serious challenge on our hands going forward. Perhaps we may have to revisit this tax and maybe increase it, because we have to discourage and discourage robustly, the use of sugar-sweetened beverages in this country. We have to if we want to save our children. If we want to save our future we have to do something about it. It is imperative of this government,” he suggested.

During her near four-hour budget presentation on Monday, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that as of April 1, 2022, the tax on sugar-sweetened beverages would increase from 10 per cent, which was introduced in 2015, to 20 per cent.

She also revealed that by October she was hoping to put a similar tax on products with high salt content.

The tax, which was introduced on these beverages on the value of the products before Value Added Tax was applied and will affect carbonated soft drinks, juice drinks, sport drinks, fruit juices, among others, particularly those that fall under tariff heading 20.09 and 22.02 for imports and similar products produced locally.

Describing the tax as a “first step”, Springer said it will require a whole of country approach to achieve change.

Member of Parliament for St Michael South Central Marsha Caddle said the world was “caught in a high sugar trap”, as she agreed with the 100 per cent increase in the tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.

“It makes perfect sense. It is the right thing to do,” said Caddle, as she broadly described the budgetary measures as highly appropriate for this time.

“But it has to go beyond that or we are going to find ourselves in another nutrition trap. It has to be about helping to teach people – what is the balance that is going to keep them healthy. And I can’t object to zero-rating of healthy foods,” she said.

In her presentation, Mottley also announced that from April 1, 2022, VAT would be removed from all sanitary napkins and tampons, baby and adult diapers, antiperspirants, vitamins and multi-minerals, along with 35 items used primarily to assist with the control of chronic diabetes, including Glucerna, Ensure, Enterex, PediaSure, Slim Fast and Splenda products.

While she welcomed the removal of the VAT on some items, Caddle said the selection was very narrow and she warned that “they are not in themselves healthier than other foods”.

“In fact, if you take them as a drink with other meals they are going to cause people to be over-nourished. So let’s be careful about the signals that we send. Similar for multivitamins,” she said.

Caddle also cautioned against “demonising” certain things, as she singled out cottage cheese as one item high in sodium content that dieticians once prescribed in food plans for people trying to lose weight.

“Before we start slapping labels on things and taxing high-salt foods, let us fully explore and understand the combination of approaches that will work in our populations,” Caddle urged. (MM)