Draft legislation for sugar tax published

The UK government has published draft legislation for a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks, which is set to begin from April 2018.

Planning to tackle the nation's obesity problem, the tax will consist of two bands - one for soft drinks with more than 5g of sugar per 100ml and a higher one for drinks with more than 8g per 100ml.

As previously announced by Parliament, pure fruit juices, sugary milkshake and yogurt drinks will be exempt, due to the possibility of being counter-productive.

The government has expressed an expectation that the levy will raise £520 million in the first year, with the Office for Budget Responsibility estimating that the levy could add and extra 18p-24p to the price of a litre of fizzy drink if the full cost is passed on to the consumer.

Health campaigners have broadly welcomed the initiative, with the Obesity Alliance, a coalition of more than 30 health charities, saying the measure was necessary, highlighting how ’tackling obesity today will save money tomorrow’.

Dr Max Davie, of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: "We are very pleased to see government moving forward with this draft legislation. The sugary drinks that will be affected by this tax have no nutritional benefit and often contain levels of sugar that are above a child's daily recommended limit.

"These drinks are a major contributor to the high sugar intakes of children, particularly teenagers, and we are in no doubt that they are, in part, contributing to this country's obesity crisis."

Conversely, Gavin Partington, of the British Soft Drinks Association, said: "There is no evidence worldwide that taxes of this sort reduce obesity, and it is ironic that soft drinks are being singled out for tax when we've led the way in reducing sugar intake, down over 17 per cent since 2012. We're also the only category to have set a 20 per cent calorie reduction target for 2020."