RIGA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Latvian lawmakers on Thursday passed in final reading a bill that would raise the excise tax on soft drinks as of 2022, the Baltic country's parliament said.
The draft legislation was passed overwhelmingly, by 88 votes to one.
The measure is being taken in order to prevent excessive consumption of sugary drinks among children. Latvia's former Health Minister Anda Caksa, who is now a member of parliament, noted that more than 20 percent of seven to nine-year-old children in Latvia are overweight. In recent years, though, the percentage of overweight children has stopped growing, which Caksa attributes to a ban on selling soft drinks in schools.
Under the current legislation, the tax rate on all sweetened non-alcoholic beverages is 7.4 euros (8.14 U.S. dollars) per 100 liters. Lawmakers proposed to diversify the tax rate depending on the beverage's sugar content.
The original proposal aimed to triple the tax rate, but parliament eventually agreed on a more moderate increase, according to the final version of the bill.
Under the amended law, the tax rate on soft drinks with sugar content below eight grams per 100 milliliters will be left at 7.4 euros per 100 liters. The tax rate on soft drinks with sugar content of eight grams per 100 milliliters or more has been set at 14 euros per 100 liters. The tax rate on soft drinks containing other sweeteners will remain at 7.4 euros per 100 liters. (1 euro = 1.10 U.S. dollars) Enditem
