PETALING JAYA: The health ministry’s war to reduce sugar intake among Malaysians requires both increased excise duties on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and the removal of sugar from the controlled items list, says a health think tank.
Although it backed health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad’s proposal to increase the sugar tax to 20%, the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy said the expected RM330 million in revenue would be all for nothing if sugar remains a gazetted item under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.
Galen’s CEO Azrul Khalib said the government had been forced to provide payments to sugar manufacturers, amounting to RM1 per kilogramme of sugar, costing around RM500 million to RM600 million in subsidies yearly.
These subsidies wipe out any current or potential revenue gained from the increase in SSB taxes, he said in a statement.
In a written Dewan Negara reply yesterday, Dzulkefly outlined four key priorities for the government, including raising the tax on sugary drinks to 20% of the retail price, as recommended by the World Health Organization.
In July 2019, the government imposed a 40-sen per litre excise duty on sweetened beverages containing more than 5g of sugar or any sugar-based sweetener per 100ml.
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Meanwhile, sugar is a controlled item, with prices capped at RM2.85 per kg for coarse sugar and RM2.95 per kg for refined sugar.
Azrul said artificially low sugar prices could lead to higher sugar consumption, contributing to the spread of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases.
He reiterated that increasing SSB taxes could reduce sugar consumption and, consequently, help mitigate health issues.
As such, Azrul said the government’s subsidies and taxes on sugar counteract each other’s effectiveness.
“What government would place price controls on sugar, provide subsidies and incentives to sugar manufacturers to help recover their costs, and then impose a sugar tax?
How does it make any sense?
