Britvic amongst food and drink leaders calling for sugar tax halt

THE food and drink industry has accused the Government of adding “unwelcome additional burdens on [a] hard-pressed industry at a moment of crisis.”

This crisis being the decision to leave the European Union, the fallout from which is still being seen. The Food and Drink Federation have long been antagonists of sugar levy proposed by Chancellor George Osborne .

The damning verdict was that the levy is “not evidence-based and will not be in the least bit effective.”

The consortium of manufacturers, including Britvic and the makers of Coca-Cola and Pepsi, said they were facing a serious skills gap, as well as weak consumer confidence following the Brexit decision. It said that the deteriorating value of the pound had meant that imported ingredients were more expensive, leading to a knock-on effect to costs to the consumer.

Director general of The Food and Drink Federation Ian Wright said: “It seems to me inconceivable that the small number of civil servants with expertise in excise duties within HMRC would, at this time, be working on the sugar levy and not on the replacement for the customs union.”

The levy is planned to be in place by April 2018 forcing companies to pay a certain rate for drinks or foodstuffs containing 5g of sugar per 100ml, and another for those containing more than 8g per 100ml.

Britvic, makers of J20 and other drinks brands, started work on a £7m Leeds factory last June.