The Deputy Minister of Health does not rule out a new tax to apply to sugar. So far we don't know any concrete bill. You can only talk about a very preliminary announcement. The Deputy Minister compared the ‘sugar tax’ to the excise duty on cigarettes. He said that excise duty on cigarettes is a factor that is intended to reduce demand for this very harmful product. In his opinion, by analogy, sugar could be treated. However, he did not specify what the new tax would look like.
The Deputy Minister of Health referred to other countries that have decided to regulate this kind. He expressed his opinion that these countries were still following this path, although this way of influencing consumption was subject to fundamental criticism.
If the general announcement of a "sugar tax" had become more specific, it would have been necessary, first of all, to establish a list of products subject to taxation. Such a tax would most likely not only apply to normal white sugar but also to industrial products (e.g. glucose-fructose syrup).
Taxes on individual goods may vary significantly from country to country. For example, some countries have decided to place coffee on excise duty, while others do not have such restrictions.
Some countries are trying to prevent civilizational diseases through fiscal tools to address health disadvantages in products. Such initiatives cannot be deleted at the outset, but at the same time attention should be paid to the need for broad public consultation. Different forms of sugar occur in a very wide range of products commonly available in stores. The establishment of a "sugar tax" without the necessary consideration could lead to an increase in retail prices without a greater public health impact.