A draft bill currently under debate in the Parliament aims to introduce an excise on sugary drinks.

The bill was initiated by an MP of the Save Romania Union (USR) but is also supported by MPs from the PSD-ALDE ruling coalition and other parties in the Parliament. It aims to tax sugary drinks based on their sugar content.

Senator Adrian Wiener, who launched this project into debate, argued that there’s a direct link between the consumption of sugary drinks and the incidence of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, local Profit.ro reported. He also pointed out that the incidence of diabetes in Romania is the highest in the European Union.

Romania has the highest soft drinks consumption in the region, namely 71 liters per capita per year, compared to 52 liters per capita in Bulgaria, 47 liters per capita in Poland and 46 liters per capita in Hungary. Moreover, close to a third of the Romanian children aged 11 drink sugary beverages every day.

The proposed excise is RON 100 per hectoliter for drinks with a sugar content of over 8 grams per 100 ml and RON 70 for drinks with between 5 and 8 grams of sugar per 100 ml. Drinks with less than 5 grams of sugar per 100 mln will not be taxed.

The state budget stands to gain some EUR 300 million a year from this excise.

editor@romania-insider.com