SSB Tax: Legalise Proposed N20 Tariff, Coalition Urges FG
Sugar Sweetened Beverages Coalition has urged the Federal Government to legalise the proposed N20 per litre tax on carbonated drinks and related products as well as reflect same in the 2023 Finance Act, in deference to World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation.
Delivering an address on behalf of the 30-member coalition at the ‘Press Briefing to Expose False Industry Narratives on SSB Tax’, yesterday, in Lagos, Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Akinbode Oluwafemi, recalled that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration introduced the N10/litre Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSB) tax through the Finance Act 2011 on carbonated drinks and sugar-sweetened non-alcoholic beverages produced, imported, distributed and sold in Nigeria.
He noted that the tax being collected by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on behalf of government did not come into effect until June 2022.
Oluwafemi pleaded with government to be firm in defending the health of the country by enacting the proposed N20/litre into law with immediate application from January 1, 2023, as well as instituting a sustainable legal framework for SSB tax with clear timelines for attaining the WHO recommended 20 per cent of retail price.
Besides, the coalition wants government to begin necessary engagements towards enacting a policy to ensure that the SSB tax is dedicated to public health coupled with massive education on dangers of over-consumption of sweetened beverages.
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The Executive Director observed: “SSBs include non-alcoholic beverages we popularly refer to as soft drinks (i.e., cola and sodas), juices (even 100 per cent juices), nectars, sweetened coffee, sugarcane juice, malt drinks, sweetened tea, energy drinks, sport drinks and flavoured dairy drinks. They are always loaded with high calories and add no nutritional value.
“The high calories consumed in SSBs lead to excessive weight gain. SSBs’ liquid sugar is easily absorbed into the body. Those sugars alter the body’s metabolism, affecting insulin, cholesterol and metabolites that cause high blood pressure and inflammation.
“The Federal Government has consistently maintained that SSB tax is pro-health and aimed at reducing over-consumption of sugary drinks to lower the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).”
“The SSB tax will not only come with heath benefits but a double win for government as it will lead to increased revenue. The increased government revenue can be used to find health-related initiatives or other expenditures,” he added.
Also speaking, a public health professional with the University of Ibadan, Dr. Francis Fagbile, cautioned against pumping more refined sugar into the body, noting that the food we consume already have the sugar needed by the human system.
He harped on healthy lifestyles to check the increasing NCDs, urging government to be more decisive with the SSB tax by way of raising it up and implementation to discourage wanton consumption of sugary products.
