The federal government has been urged to raise the taxes payable on Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) from six per cent or N10 per litre to N40 per litre or 30 per cent.
Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Akinbode Oluwafemi, made the call in Abuja at a National Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Tax Coalition’s roundtable on the SSB taxes themed, ‘SSB tax: Industry Undermining Public Health for Profit’.
Akinbode urged Nigerians to reject any deceptive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) aimed at promoting unhealthy products by the manufacturers to fraudulently sway the government from protecting the people through the hike in SSB taxes.
He noted that the SSB manufacturing industry actively targets children and youths, bombarding them with sugary advertising and social activities, normalising unhealthy habits at a crucial stage in their development.
It was reported that SSB taxation has been successfully implemented in many countries like Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, and Portugal, among others leading to effective reduction in the consumption of SSBs.
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