Right: Attempts by the City of New York to levy a "soda tax" on sugary drinks brought howls of outrage from trucking unions, retailers, wholesalers and many others who formed an organisation named New Yorkers Against Unfair Taxes.
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Background information
(The information which follows is abbreviated from the Wikipedia entry titled 'Soda tax'. The full entry can be accessed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soda_tax)
A sugar tax, soda tax or soft drink tax is a tax or surcharge on soft drinks specific to the promotion of reduced overall sugar consumption.
In most forms the tax is designed to discourage the production, importation and purchase of carbonated, uncarbonated, sports and energy drinks, with excess levels of added sugar. Sugar in such sweetened beverages can be in the form of sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, or other caloric sweeteners. .
Attempts to impose the tax are a matter of public debate in many countries and a measure often strongly opposed by food and beverage producers. Advocates promote the tax as an example of Pigovian taxation, aimed to discourage unhealthy diets and offset the growing economic costs of obesity.
Obesity is global public and health policy concern with the percentage of overweight and obese in many developed and middle income countries rising rapidly. Consumption of added sugar in sugar sweetened beverages has been positively correlated with high calorie intake, and through it, with excess weight and obesity. Added sugar is a common feature of many processed and convenience foods such as breakfast cereals, chocolate, ice cream, biscuits, yoghurts and drinks produced by high street retailers such as Starbucks. The ubiquity of sugar sweetened beverages and their appeal to younger consumers has made their consumption a subject of particular concern by public health professionals. In both the United States and the United Kingdom, sugar sweetened drinks are the top calorie source in teenage diets.
Trends indicate that traditional soda consumption is declining in many developed economies, but growing rapidly in middle income economies such as Vietnam and India. In the United States, the single biggest market for carbonated soft drinks, consumers annual average per capita purchase of soda was 154 litres.[8] The focus on carbonated soft drinks such as traditional colas as a subject for taxation implied by the term "soda tax" can be misleading; sugar sweetened beverages such as sports drinks or electrolyte drinks, sweetened tea, and fruit-flavoured drinks often contain amounts of added sugar equal to carbonated sodas.[9] Where taxation measures on sugar sweetened beverages have been successfully proposed, these drink categories have also been made subject to the same form of "sugar tax".
Countries imposing a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages
France
France was one of the first countries to introduce a targeted sugar tax on soft drinks in 2012. Analysis by the market research firm Canadean found that sales of soft drinks declined in the year following the introduction of the tax, following several years of annual growth. However, the tax applies to both drinks with added sugars and drinks with artificial sweeteners, possibly limiting its effects on the healthfulness of soda products.
Mexico
Similar measures were announced in Mexico in 2013. Early studies indicate that after introduction of the tax, amounting to approximately 10% of the purchase price, annual sales of sodas in Mexico declined 6% in 2014. Monthly sales figures for December 2014 were down 12% on the previous two years. Whether the imposition of the tax will have any impact on long-term obesity trends in Mexico is yet to be determined.
Norway
Norway has a generalized sugar tax measure on refined sugar products, including soft drinks, which is set to 7.05 kroner per kilogram.
South Africa
A sugar-sweetened beverages tax for 2017 was proposed in the 2016 South African national government budget.
United Kingdom
A study published on October 31, 2013 found that a 20% tax on sugar-sweetened beverages would reduce obesity rates in the United Kingdom by about 1.3%, and concluded that taxing sugar-sweetened beverages was 'a promising population measure to target population obesity, particularly among younger adults.'
In the 2016 United Kingdom budget, the British Government announced the introduction of a sugar tax on the soft drinks industry. Planned to come into effect in 2018, beverage manufactures will be taxed according to the volume of sugar sweetened beverages they produce or import. The total level of the tax has yet to be announced, but the measure is estimated to generate an additional S520 million a year in tax revenue which will be spent on doubling existing funding for sport in United Kingdom primary schools.
United States
Berkeley, California
In November 2014, Berkeley, California was the first community at a local level in the United States where citizens voted to approve a targeted tax on soda.
New York City
In the case of New York's 2010 effort to introduce a tax, measures to implement such a tax were supported by groups like the New York Academy of Medicine and editorial writers. The Alliance for a Healthier New York was formed with financial and strategic support from the United Healthcare Workers East union and the Greater New York Hospital Association. Groups such as New Yorkers against Unfair Taxes, set up by beverage companies, grocers, teamsters who represent drivers and production workers and others, lobbied against the measure. The anti-tax forces argued that the tax was based on dubious science, because obesity was a matter of how many calories people consumed, not where those calories came from.