Calls for extra effort on implementation of SSB Tax

By Ezra Ukanwa – Abuja

Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, including National Action on Sugar Reduction, NASR; Diabetes Association of Nigeria; among eleven others, on Monday, blamed the Federal Government on poor implementation of tax on Sugar-sweetened beverages in Nigeria. 

Recall that the Minister of Finance recently announced a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, saying that an excise tax of N10 per litre will now be imposed on non-alcoholic, carbonated and sweetened beverages.

The federal government failed to commence implementation of its tax on non-alcoholic, carbonated drinks and sweetened beverages, signaling a flop in the government’s revenue drive, on June 1, 2022.

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Reacting to this, in a statement, in Abuja, the Coalition called on the government to ensure the implementation of the sugar-sweetened beverages tax (SSB Tax) that was introduced in the Finance Act and signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 31st of December, 2021.

This call came in following FG’s failure to meet its June 1st takeoff of the Sugar
Tax Regulation.

The General Secretary, Nigerian Diabetes
Association, who doubles as co-chair of the coalition, Comrade Bernard Enyia noted: “The backlash from the soda industry is slowing down the implementation of the tax. People think that the sugar tax is trying to impoverish them and add to inflation.”

Enyia, however, explained that the tax is meant to ease the suffering of people living with diabetes.

He further said that enlightening people on the importance of the tax and how it will be used as a health policy tool toward the treatment of non-communicable diseases will help in changing their minds about supporting the tax.

The coalition applauded the swift action of the Nigeria Customs Service for taking
initiative towards enforcing the tax by reaching out to the beverage industries to begin
the implementation of the SSB Tax.

On his part, Zacks Onwe of TalkHealth Nigeria urged the coalition to activate community
stakeholders to call out the government for refusing to implement the tax.

The Executive Director, Nigerian Heart Foundation, Dr. Kingsley Akinroye, called on stakeholders, including civil society organizations, to work with government to enforce the implementation of the tax.

Vanguard News Nigeria