LISBON: Portugal’s Socialist government will introduce a sugar tax on soft drinks in 2017 which is expected to raise 80 million euros ($88 million) for the nation’s public health service, a budget bill presented Friday showed.
The announcement comes just three days after the World Health Organization urged countries to start taxing sugary drinks, pointing to evidence that price hikes can dramatically reduce consumption.
Under Portugal’s plans, drinks with a sugar content above 80 grammes per litre will be slapped with a tax of 16.46 euros per hectolitre.
Drinks with less than 80 grammes of sugar per litre will pay a tax of 8.22 euros per hectolitre.
The tax will raise the price of a standard 330 millilitre can of Coca-Cola, which contains 35 grammes of sugar, by 5.5 euro cents.
The new tax will only apply to soft drinks. Sugary drinks based on milk or fruit juice will be spared.
