The Federation of Philippine Industries Issues Statement on non-discriminatory labelling on products with Sugar
When President Rodrigo Duterte signed
into law the TRAIN, ordinary Filipinos were hit the hardest when it comes to
buying commodities. The law may be a form to provide hefty tax cuts to majority
of tax-paying Filipinos but the reality of price increase in all prime
commodities is hard thing to swallow for many. It seems everything was affected
by TRAIN but this was to be expected if we want to enjoy its future benefits.
During its first months, many who did
not understand the tax package were confused why some products increased by
almost 50 percent. It is only lately that we get to learn that what is included
in the product label is the culprit to the price increase. An example of this is
the SUGAR commodity and it looks like Sugar is being discriminated upon.
Last July 9, 2018, the Federation of
Philippine Industries (FPI)—composed of one hundred and thirty-two (132)
corporation-members and thirty-eight (38) industry associations from across the
country has spoken up thru Dr. and made a statement on how they find it unfortunate
that there is this new proposed labelling measure against sugar, which is a
consumer good that has weathered, and continues to bear, its fair share of
challenges, at the expense of a several concerned industries.
Here is the statement:
We cannot
help but observe that the government is singling out sugar yet again with this
planned move. Sugar is an important ingredient in food and beverages, with many
in the manufacturing (food and beverage) sectors relying on it, and it does not
deserve to be put in a bad light by measures such as this.
We renew our
suggestion to the government to instead adopt a content-based taxation scheme
versus a volumetric approach, which is the current nature of the SSB tax,
instead of making new measures about labelling. Again, the volumetric tax
is essentially a tax on water, rather than sugar. If we really want to address
health concerns, a content-based taxation scheme is what the government should
consider instead of new regulatory measures. Content-based taxation levies a
higher tax rates on beverages that have higher sugar content versus those that
have lower sugar content. It will encourage companies to produce and/or
reformulate drinks with less sugar—thus fulfilling the law’s supposed mandate
as a health measure.
Moreover,
the government should also reconsider the tax imposed on non-caloric
sweeteners. If the tax on sweetened beverages is indeed a health measure, then
the government should remove the taxes on non-calorics as they pose an added
burden to seniors and to those watching their sugar intake. It is ironic that
although seniors are provided a senior citizen discount, the more
senior-friendly non-caloric refreshments are imposed with an excise tax making
them too expensive for seniors to enjoy.
FPI and its
member-companies have always been committed to transparency, and this extends
to providing clear nutrition information in the packaging of our products for
our consumers. As such, we at FPI support labelling on goods that adheres to
high standards of transparency and factuality. Rest assured that we comply with
all of the government’s existing regulatory requirements on nutrition and
content labelling. Companies follow a thorough and rigorous approval process, which
involves governmental oversight. All labels are submitted to the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) for approval, who also review substantiation for claims,
nutrition information, ingredients, and so on. The FPI takes seriously all
government regulations—we pride ourselves as a collective of transparent,
accountable, and law-abiding companies that strive for the betterment of our
industries.
If this
planned labelling measure succeeds in moving forward, then the Department of
Trade and Industry will have failed in its mandate of promoting equitable trade
environment and the welfare of industries—something that we as an organization
and as concerned industry players wish to avoid. As such, the FPI is eager to
work with the government in coming up with fair and equitable solutions to this
proposed problematic measure.
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