Colombia’s “health tax” comes into force as ultra-processed food and sugary drinks face hikes

03 Nov 2023 --- Colombia has launched a public health measure this week, imposing an initial tax of 10% on ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks. Experts are calling it Latin America’s most comprehensive measure to combat obesity.

The health tax, promoted by civil society groups and embedded within the government’s plan to target obesity, targets a reduction in the consumption of unhealthy foods by making them more expensive. 

The staggered tax will begin at 10% and climb to 15% in 2024, eventually reaching 20% by 2025, with beverages facing a variable tax depending on sugar content.

The new tax also affects products rich in salt and trans fats, including cold cuts, chocolates, and puffed grain cereals, all of which have been linked to the exacerbation of cardiovascular diseases.

“This is not to take money from you. This is so that you choose healthy foods and improve the health of the Colombian people,” President Gustavo Petro remarked on his account on X after the policy was introduced earlier this week. 

Health tax against nutrition challenges
The World Health Organization recommends that all nations implement health tax to combat the rising obesity, particularly in children. The primary objective is to curtail the consumption of products identified as risk factors for noncommunicable diseases by rendering them less affordable through price increases. 

The World Health Organization is encouraging all nations to contemplate implementing a sugary drinks tax.For years, Colombia has faced increasing obesity rates. In 2021, the Health Ministry estimated that 56.4% of Colombians were overweight. A recent study by Colombia’s Javeriana University’s Faculty of Medicine reveals levels of hypertension and prehypertension, affecting over 40% of the country’s population, elevating mortality risk.

Colombia faces a nutrition transition with a rising average body mass index in its population. This transition reveals a paradox where undernutrition and overnutrition coexist, especially among children, often driven by unhealthy diets.

Global examples to support Colombia’s policy
This policy hopes to encourage a healthy diet in Colombia, where the beverage industry has managed to order sweetened product commercials to be off the national television broadcast. 

Critics of the measure, however, including business leaders, argue that the tax unfairly penalizes the poor and may harm small business owners and food producers who are already facing economic challenges. 

Senator María Fernanda Cabal expressed her concern on X, suggesting that the health tax may create more harm for producers rather than improving public health.

Yet previous international evidence lends support to Colombia’s measure. The implementation of the soft drinks industry levy in the UK has yielded promising results, particularly among older primary school children. Estimates indicate that the sugar tax may have prevented approximately 5,000 instances of obesity among young girls in the UK.

Portugal, too, has seen fiscal benefits from its sugar tax from 2017, which is expected to bolster the country’s public health funding.

Tonga exhibits one of the highest obesity rates globally. Nevertheless, it has made notable progress in implementing taxes on unhealthy foods and beverages. Tonga has not only imposed substantial taxes on more than ten high-fat and high-sugar products but has also waived import taxes on selected healthy products such as fruit, vegetables, eggs and seafood.

By Sichong Wang