The former finance minister stated in his budget speech in 2016 that sugar tax would come into force in South Africa from 1 April 2017. The treasury's reason for implementing sugar taxation is to reduce the health problems caused by sugar. It is nothing new to use fiscal measures to recover both taxes and to prevent health problems but it was not yet possible to reach a definite conclusion about the impact of sugar tax on the consumption of sugary drinks and the prevalence of obesity. The reason for this is that there is evidence that the implementation of food tax in different countries has shown different results in terms of public health issues and tax benefits. In South Africa, the implementation of sugar tax can either reduce the prevalence of obesity and thereby have a positive effect on the economy or its implementation may adversely affect the economy. If treasury does not implement sugar tax the economy can also be adversely affected by the prevalence of obesity. This dissertation deals with the effects of non-communicable diseases and sugar tax on the South African economy. The focus is on how sugar tax is being implemented internationally and how South Africa intends to implement sugar tax. / Die voormalige minister van finansies het in sy begrotingstoespraak in 2016 vermeld dat suikerbelasting vanaf 1 April 2017 in Suid-Afrika in werking gaan tree. Die tesourie se rede vir die implementering van suikerbelasting is om, in samewerking met die Departement van Gesondheid, die gesondheidsprobleme wat deur suiker veroorsaak word te verminder. Dit is niks nuuts om fiskale maatstawwe te gebruik om beide belasting in te vorder en gesondheidsprobleme te voorkom nie, maar dit was nog nie moontlik om tot ’n definitiewe gevolgtrekking te kom oor die impak van suikerbelasting op die verbruik van suikerversoete drankies en die voorkoms van vetsug nie. Die rede hiervoor is dat daar bewyse is dat die implementering van voedselbelasting in verskillende lande verskillende resultate getoon het in terme van openbare gesondheidskwessies en belastingvoordele. In Suid-Afrika kan die implementering van suikerbelasting óf die voorkoms van vetsug verminder en sodoende die ekonomie bevoordeel óf die implementering daarvan kan die ekonomie negatief beïnvloed. Indien die tesourie nie suikerbelasting implementeer nie kan die ekonomie as gevolg van die voorkoms van vetsug negatief beïnvloed word. Die kern van hierdie skripsie handel oor die gevolge van nieoordraagbare siektes en suikerbelasting op die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie. Daar word spesifiek gefokus op hoe suikerbelasting internasionaal geïmplementeer word en hoe Suid-Afrika beoog om suikerbelasting te implementeer. / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Mercantile Law / LLM / Unrestricted

Inledning: Många barn får i sig mycket mer socker än det rekommenderade dagliga intaget. Enligt Världshälsoorganisationen är idag 381 miljoner barn drabbade av övervikt eller fetma. Syfte: Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka om införandet av sockerskatt kan bidra till att minska barnfetma och övervikt, vilket i så fall skulle kunna vara en bidragande faktor till förbättrad möjlighet till en god hälsa och ett långt liv. Metod: En systematisk litteraturstudie där 15 vetenskapliga artiklar som speglade studiefrågan analyserades och sammanställdes. Resultat: Läskskatt är mest effektiv då den är volymbaserad och ligger på 20% eller högre. Hur stor viktreducering läskskatt leder till beror på konsumentens ålder, kön och socioekonomiska ställning. Störst blir viktreduceringen bland barn och ungdomar, vilka är de som konsumerar mest läsk i befolkningen. Diskussion: Studien visar att det inte längre är hållbart för nationer att förlita sig på att befolkningen kan hantera sitt kaloriinatg på egen hand. Att beskatta just läsk är både praktiskt att implementera och en nödvändig hälsoåtgärd. Först då konsumenterna själva känner en motvilja att konsumera livsmedlet, samt förstår kopplingen mellan högt sockerintag och den egna hälsan, ger sockerskatt maximal effekt. / Introduction: Many children consume more sugar than the recommended daily intake. According to the World Health Organization, 381 million children today are affected by obesity or overweight. Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the introduction of sugar tax can help reduce childhood obesity and overweight, which could be a contributing factor to improved opportunities for good health and longevity. Method: A systematic literature study where 15 scientific articles reflecting the study matter were analyzed and compiled. Result: Sugar sweetened beverage tax is most effective when it is volume based and is 20% or higher. That weight reduction taxation leads to depends on the consumer's age, gender and socioeconomic position. The biggest reduction is the weight reduction among children and adolescents, who consume the most sugar sweetened beverages in the population.  Discussion: The systematic review shows that it is no longer sustainable for nations to rely on the population to manage their calorie intake on their own. Taxing sugar sweetened beverages is both practical to implement and a necessary health measure. Once consumers feel a reluctance to consume the groceries, and understand the connection between high sugar intake and their own health, sugar tax gives.

Unhealthy eating habits are one of the main causes of deteriorating health and premature death among Sweden’s population. Foods containing added sugars are common today and they rarely contain the nutrients that are essential for our bodies to stay healthy. Overconsuming sugar can lead to several diseases, including obesity and caries. Obesity in turn increases the risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, stroke, and diabetes type 2. The health effects of sugar are costly to society and a sugar tax on sugar-sweetened beverages is a possible financial instrument to improve public health and at the same time reduce healthcare costs. The cost savings and tax revenue can then be used to finance further implementations of strategies to improve the public health of the citizens of Sweden. The purpose of this essay is to investigate whether it is socio-economically viable to introduce an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in Sweden. The drinks that would be affected by the tax are sodas, juices, energy drinks, sport drinks and ciders. A cost-benefit analysis is the economic method that will be used in this essay to investigate the issue. The possible costs and benefits from the implementation of a tax are identified and valued in monetary terms. In addition to this, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to test how sensitive the project is to differences in estimated costs and benefits. The calculations of costs and benefits are based on secondary data and statistics from previous studies as well as reports and statistics from Swedish authorities. The results of this essay show that the benefits of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages had exceeded the costs, which is also showed by the cost-benefit ratio which is 1,47 and thus exceeds 1. The sensitivity analysis shows that the results are stable and credible since alternative values of costs and benefits also would lead to cost-benefit ratios exceeding 1. Based on the results, a recommendation is made to introduce an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in Sweden, since the introduction is estimated to be socio-economically viable. / I denna uppsats utförs en kostnads-nyttoanalys för att undersöka om det är samhällsekonomiskt lönsamt att införa en punktskatt på sötad dryck i Sverige. De drycker som skulle påverkas av skatten är läsk, juice, saft, energidryck, sportdryck, cider samt måltidsdryck som är sötade med socker eller naturligt innehåller en hög sockerhalt. Socker har endast negativ påverkan på vår hälsa och överkonsumtion av socker är en orsak till ett flertal sjukdomar som är vanligt förekommande idag, bland annat övervikt och karies. Övervikt ökar i sin tur risken för att drabbas av fetma, hjärt- och kärlsjukdomar, cancer, stroke och diabetes typ 2. Hälsoeffekterna av socker är kostsamma för samhället och en sockerskatt på dryck är ett möjligt styrmedel för att förbättra folkhälsan och samtidigt minska dessa kostnader. Kostnadsbesparingarna kan därefter distribueras till viktiga ändamål, exempelvis för att finansiera ytterligare strategier för en bättre hälsa hos befolkningen. Resultaten i uppsatsen visar att fördelarna av en skatt på sötade drycker hade överstigit kostnaderna, vilket går att se då nyttokostnadskvoten som beräknas uppgår till 1,47 och alltså överstiger 1. Utöver kostnads-nyttoanalysen utförs även en känslighetsanalys för att testa hur känsligt resultatet är för förändringar av värdet för olika parametrar som kommer påverkas av införandet av skatten. Känslighetsanalysen visar att resultatet är stabilt och trovärdigt då även alternativa värden leder till en nyttokostnadskvot som överstiger 1. Resultatet används som grund för en rekommendation om att införa en punktskatt på sötade drycker i Sverige, då införandet är samhällsekonomiskt lönsamt.

In recent time, several reports have been published about a more and more unhealthy population world wide, with increasing Body Mass Index (BMI) in welfare countries, such as Sweden. Diseases, such as obesity and diabetes, which is strongly connected to a high BMI, have increased and together with them also the medical expenses for society/state. Several initiatives have been started, in different countries, to tackle these problems and some have introduced a “sugar tax” on unhealthy products, like candy and soda, which has become a well- debated subject also in Sweden today. In this MBA master thesis, a literature study has been conducted with the goal of evaluating if an excise tax should be introduced in an efficient way on unhealthy sugar-sweetened beverages in Sweden. This case study is built on secondary data where reports and official statistics, from governments and health authorities/organizations, have been studied both for Sweden as well as from other countries. There has been a particular focus on Sweden's neighbouring countries Denmark and Finland, who has both experiences in the implementation of a “sugar tax”. Our theory is that introducing an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages will reduce the demand and consumption of these products, which will reduce welfare disease such as obesity and diabetes and yield a tax income for the state. However it is important to have in mind that the reduced consumption also will result in less tax income from the no longer sold goods, fewer personnel employed in the producing industries etc. The results showed that the overall sugar consumption actually has decreased in Sweden, as well as the overall consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. However during the same time period the average calorie consumption and BMI has continued to increase resulting in a more unhealthy population that results in increased medical expenses. In conclusion an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages will not solve the welfare disease problems but may positively influence health. However it comes with a price also for the state from both gains and loss in tax incomes and increased administrations costs for managing the new tax. Finally it should be noted that since sugar-sweetened beverages are unhealthy products, which do not contribute to any positive health effects, sugar taxation might still be considered.