Coalition counters beverage industry, wants increase in soft drink taxes

A coalition, the National Action on Sugar Reduction, has staged a peaceful display in Abuja to urge the government to increase taxes on sugary drinks and invest the revenue into public health.

Recall that last year a 10 naira per litre excise tax on non-alcoholic, carbonated, and sweetened beverages were passed through the 2021 Finance Act, and the coalition commended the Federal Government for passing the tax, and maintain that a higher tax rate is needed to make a real health impact.

According to a statement issued by the Coalition spokesperson, Omei Bongos-Ikwue, in Abuja on Wednesday, the protest was staged in the front of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Abuja.

Through a lineup of colourful billboard displays and placards, the coalition’s messages claimed that soft drink taxes are a “win” for Nigerians, adding that its consumption of sugary drinks is known to be a risk factor for diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancers.

She said: “The taxes would be especially beneficial to the poor, who suffer the most from the high financial cost of non-communicable diseases. The poor are most responsive to price changes, and taxes will encourage them to buy less and prevent the future onset of costly, life-threatening chronic illness.”

Bongos-Ikwue further explained that the billboard display was a means to drive public awareness about the importance of a sugar-sweetened beverage tax and the harms of consumption to health.

“The billboard displays also called out the beverage manufacturing industry for putting financial gain over health. The industry has consistently generated profits, yet makes claims that the current 10 naira per litre tax will collapse their industry. Soft drink sales in Nigeria are the 4th highest in the world, with nearly 40 million litres sold each year. This amounts to billions in profit each year at the expense of public health,” she said.

The coalition further argued that the industry pays a 50% tax in Qatar, yet this high rate has not led to an industry collapse. Increasing taxes will benefit the nation’s health without causing economic losses to the industry.

“Soft drinks are cheap; diabetes is not,” read one of the billboard displays. Taxing soft drinks and other sweetened beverages is a way to prevent avoidable deaths and raise sorely needed revenue to invest in healthcare’’, she said.