Maldives Customs Service Thursday insisted on the need for a written policy to classify energy drinks and soft drinks which are presently exempted from excise duty if it does not contain carbonated water.
The parliamentary economic committee has decided to summon the Health Protection Agency (HPA), the Maldives Customs Services a well as the Tobacco Control Board for review of the government proposed bill seeking a significant increase in excise duty on energy drinks and cigarettes.
Speaking during the committee sit-down on Thursday, customs' commissioner general Ibrahim Shareef said soft drinks are presently classified as fizzy drinks and as such if carbonated water is absent it is exempt from excise duty.
Shareef also explained that customs only looks at the brand and not the content when classifying energy drinks.
But the relevant health authority needs to classify energy drinks based on the contents for the customs to follow, Shareef said.
In addition to customs, the committee had also summoned HPA and the tobacco control board on Thursday.
State health minister Dr Aishath Rameela said the primary concern for health officials was the rise in sugary drinks in the Maldives insisting that fizzy drinks with carbonated water was a separate category.
"The biggest health risk is drinks with high sugar content. We're most concerned with drinks of such nature. A fizzy drink might have zero sugar. A normal fruit drink might be fizzy. Even sparkling water is fizzy isn't it. But it has no health risks," Rameela explained.
Government had proposed to raise excise duty on each cigarette by MVR1.75 which would likely elevate the price of a pack from the current MVR47 to over MVR50.
Government hopes the duty hike on cigarettes would yield a revenue of an estimated MVR200 million next year.
In addition, the 20 percent excise duty increase on fizzy drinks would boost government revenue by MVR9 billion.
The government lawmaker who submitted the bill to Parliament stated that this was part of an effort by the government to discourage people from substances that were harmful to their health.
While all lawmakers generally agreed to raising of the duty on the products, some opposition MPs questioned the real motive of the government behind this sudden hike in duties.
Opposition lawmakers alleged that the duty hike was a ploy designed to boost government revenue rather than public health.
