FPI opposes DTI’s proposed sugar content labels on beverages

THE Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) is opposing the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) proposed rules that would require companies to include sugar content of beverages on labels.

“We at the Federation of Philippine Industries — composed of 132 corporation-members and 38 industry associations from across the country — find it unfortunate to learn of a 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,” it said in a statement.

Last week, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the DTI has recommended to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the inclusion of information on sugar content per pack and per serving on front-of-pack labels for packaged beverages — both liquid or powdered. The DTI proposed adopting a benchmark that requires special labeling for amounts greater than 25 grams of sugar per 200 milliliter (ml) serving.

FPI accused the government of singling out sugar once again, saying it is an important ingredient in food and beverages.

The industry stakeholders reiterated its earlier suggestion to switch to content-based taxation scheme from the current volumetric approach, which is the nature of the sugar-sweetened beverage tax under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

“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,” FPI said. —