LEVY PROPOSALS: Sugar industry calls for freeze on sugar tax, asks government for a sweeter deal

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The South African Sugar Association has appealed to the government ahead of the Budget next week to freeze the health promotion levy on sugary beverages (such as Coke) — the sugar tax, as it is better known — for the next three to five years.

First introduced in 2018, the tax is currently 2.21 cents per gram and is applied to non-alcoholic sugary beverages that contain more than four grams of sugar per 100ml. The tax was meant to increase to 2.31 cents per gram from April 2022, but the inflationary increase was suspended for 12 months to allow for consultation with the sugar industry.

A Sugar Association survey shows that an inflationary adjustment is unlikely to lead to significant reductions in demand, as most manufacturers have already reformulated their drinks to meet the current minimum threshold of 4mg of sugar per 100ml.“Any increase to the HPL or lowering of the threshold will have a disastrous impact on the entire sugar cane chain.

These are encouraging statistics, more so given the obesity problem that the country faces, with half of South African adults either overweight or obese. Trikam says the industry has lost around R1.2-billion of revenue per season since the sugar tax was first introduced and blames the tax for the closure of two sugar mills in Darnall and uMzimkulu.

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It will fall on deaf ears…..it’s not anout health it’s about money

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