Today, the Finnish Parliament considered the proposed excise tax on sweets, ice cream and soft drinks. The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry, Fazer Confectionary Finland and Leaf Suomi Oy are of the opinion that this is an arbitrary tax that distorts competition.
During the preparation of the excise tax proposal, attention has been drawn to its impact on public health, but in practice, this tax randomly targets a number of similar product groups.
“There is no problem with taxation per se, only the arbitrary way in which this tax would be levelled on only a few companies in the food and drink industry, while leaving similar products and their manufacturers outside its scope,” says Elina Ussa, Managing Director of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry.
In its current form, the proposed tax does not support public health perspectives. It distorts competition and its narrow scope makes it tough on individual companies. For example, the excise tax penalises (sugar-free) spring and mineral waters and products containing Xylitol, while many products with a high sugar content remain outside its scope, such as biscuits, cakes, yoghurt drinks, sweet fruit soups, sweetened and flavoured milkshakes and milkshake drinks, and sweetened coffee drinks sold in powdered form.
Parliament calls for a fairer sugar tax
The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry, Fazer Confectionary Finland and Leaf Suomi Oy hold Parliament’s resolution to be an important step towards fairer taxation. The resolution requires the government to continue developing a broader-based excise tax on beverages and foodstuffs containing sugar. It seeks to base legislation more clearly on health promotion, and also to look into the introduction of a tax based on a product’s sugar content.
“It’s important that work towards developing the taxation system begins during this government term, so that we can switch to a so-called ‘sugar tax’ as soon as possible after the new government term begins in the spring,” says Ussa.
For additional information, contact:
The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry
Managing Director Elina Ussa, tel. +358 (0)9 148 871 (ETL exchange), GSM +358 (0)45 269 7711
Communications Manager Outi Jalonen, tel. +358 (0)9 148 871 (ETL exchange), GSM +358 (0)50 370 8677
The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry promotes the interests of producers of beer, cider, long drinks, soft drinks and mineral waters in Finland. Its members are Oy Hartwall Ab, Nokian Panimo Oy, Olvi Oyj and Oy Sinebrychoff Ab. The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry operates in connection with the Finnish Food and Drink Industries Federation and represents Finland’s third largest industry in the food and drink branch in terms of the value of production.