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Britain to introduce sugar tax on soft drinks

Wednesday, 16 March 2016 3:03 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 16 March 2016 5:12 PM ]

Britain government says it is mulling a new sugar tax on soft drink producers to reduce the rate of child obesity.

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne unveiled a new tax on sugary drinks at the House of Commons on Wednesday, with the aim of cutting down on increasing childhood obesity levels.

The tax, which is to be imposed on excessive sugar levels in soft drinks, starts in two years' time.

Drinks with more than five grams of sugar per 100 milliliters will be taxed, Osborne said. Sugary drinks serve as "one of the biggest contributors to childhood obesity," the chancellor stated.

“I can announce that we will introduce a new sugar levy on the soft drinks industry,” Osborne said, adding that the delay in implementation of the new measure was meant to “give companies plenty of time to change their product mix.”

Soft drink producers saw a plunge in their shares after the announcement. Health experts have welcomed the decision. However, some warned that manufacturers may opt to increase the price of their products rather than getting along with the move and starting a reform in the contents of the drinks.

Osborne expressed regret that he could not as a member of parliament do something to curb the level of sugar in drinks.

“I am not prepared to look back at my time here in this parliament, doing this job and say to my children's generation 'I'm sorry. We knew there was a problem with sugary drinks. We knew it caused disease but we ducked the difficult decisions'.”

The chancellor of the Exchequer estimated that the measure could raise about 520 million pounds a year (661 million euros, USD 732 million), saying that the government would use the money to fund sports activities in schools.

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