The Excise Department is conducting a feasibility study to impose a tax on drinks with high sugar content, its chief says.

The department is in talks with the Food and Drug Administration about how much consumption of such drinks is damaging to health, said director-general Somchai Pulswas.

Whether a drink with a high sugar content will be taxed will depend on its effect on consumer health, he said, adding the impact on the industry will also be taken into account.

Meanwhile, a source at the Finance Ministry said diabetes is a top killer and many overseas studies have found a correlation between sugar added to food and drink and consumer malnutrition.

If the department changes the way it taxes drink content, it must first amend the legal appendix, the source said.

The Excise Department currently taxes carbonated drinks and fruit juices based on volume or value.

Amending the law is required if the department wants to tax drinks that are beyond the scope of the current law, the source said.

Source:
courtesy of BANGKOK POST

by Wichit Chantanusornsiri

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