Why are processed foods and sugary drinks subject to taxes in Colombia?
Colombia started taxing sugar-filled beverages and highly processed meals on Wednesday in an effort to lower the country’s alarmingly high obesity rates. The tax will increase from 10% for the remainder of 2023 to 15% in 2024 and 20% in 2025 after being authorized by Congress at the end of 2022 and affirmed by the Constitutional Court in the face of several legal challenges.
“I’m not doing this to rob you of money. This is to help you make better eating choices and enhance the general health of Colombians,” President Gustavo Petro said on his X, previously Twitter, account. The new levy also applies to sodas, processed juices, and energy drinks, which are linked to the exacerbation of diabetes and cardiovascular illnesses, as well as high-salt and trans-fat products like cold cuts, chocolates, and puffed grain cereals.
286,000 people work in Colombia’s sugar business, and after the approval of the increased tax, sugar barons retaliated by filing many lawsuits. Nonetheless, this year’s decision by the Constitutional Court said that the tax “does not infringe principles of equality, economic freedom, or free markets.”
According to government data, 56% of individuals in Colombia between the ages of 18 and 64 were overweight in 2015. As a public health measure, some other Latin American countries have imposed levies on sugar-filled beverages.
In 2014, Mexico levied a one peso levy per liter of sugar-sweetened drinks; Ecuador and Peru then enacted similar higher taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages in 2016 and 2018, respectively.
