A senatorial report has proposed a junk-food tax on products that cause cardiovascular diseases. The tax, which is similar to steps taken by other European countries, focuses specifically on soft drinks, which currently benefit from low taxes. The new junk-food tax was presented by the French Senate in Parliament on 19 March.
The report, ‘Taxation and public health: evaluation of behavioural taxation’, is designed to evaluate a behavioural tax to counter poor dietary habits, which could compensate for the public health costs associated with the consumption of junk food.
The Report will be presented to the Minister of Health, Marisol Touraine, at the beginning of April. In the summer of 2015, the Council of Ministers will present a public health legislation in response to the report.
The report underlines that “if the consumption of tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food is deemed high risk in relation to public health, then they are synonymous to considerable costs to society. Behavioural taxation could therefore be envisaged as a way to reduce costs and generate the funds necessary to offset their negative externalities.”
The report calls for harmonised taxes on vegetable oils, and to apply a 20% tax on soft drinks, with a view to limiting the risks of cardiovascular diseases and the risk of cardiovascular events, in particular.
According to the report, “Behavioural taxation aims to reduce the consumption of drinks known to cause serious cardiac accidents in genetically predisposed consumers, notably by implementing a tax on energy drinks.”
The senators who led the report, Yves Daudigny (socialist) and Catherine Deroche (UMP), encourage talk of “contribution to public health” and not the frequently used term “behavioural taxation”.
“The term behavioural taxation has a moralistic nature and makes the citizen feel guilty. Our objective is to say that certain products are unhealthy. The fact that these products are subject to a tax which contributes to public health, seems completely coherent”, said Senator Catherine Deroche.
Earlier this month it was reported that the UK’s chief medical officer was warning a sugar tax may be imposed in the UK on calorie-laden food and drink, in order to tackle the nation’s obesity epidemic.
Dame Sally Davies said that increasing the prices on certain products, particularly fruit juice and fizzy drinks, could be the only way to change the public’s poor diet.
