Public health approval for Romanian food tax plan

Last month the Romanian parliament has adopted an amendment to its 2006 healthcare reform legislation that imposes a new tax on certain “non-recommended” ​foodstuffs as of 1 March, in an effort to combat obesity. Funds raised through the tax will be paid into a state treasury account for the exclusive use of the Ministry of Health, and will help cover the costs of dealing with obesity-related disease.

The plan has met with applause from the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), a network of NGOs. In an open letter to Romania’s prime minister Emil Boc and health minister Attila Cseke, the alliance congratulated Romania on “its bold step forward in the fight against overweight, obesity and diet-related diseases”.​

However it also recommends Romania uses other pricing mechanisms or subsidies to make healthy options more widely available and affordable.

“We hope that this initiative will lead others in Europe to take positive action to tackle this issue,”​ wrote the EPHA, which also drew attention to schemes in other member states, such advertising curbs and reformulation targets in the UK.

The letter was originally signed by Monika Kosinska, secretary general of EPHA, but Romanian MEP Oana Antonescu has also added her signature. In associating herself with the move, Antonescu said the tax should be thought of as a form of education.

Funds generated via the scheme are to be used exclusively for health promotion programmes among the population, focusing on ingredients that contribute to an unhealthy diet. Cseke has estimated that the new scheme could bring in around €1bn.

The open letter is available via this link.

Industry reaction ​

The food industry in Romania was caught unawares by the junk food tax proposal, when it was first announced in January. Doina Cavache, manager of corporate affairs at Kraft Foods Romania, told FoodNavigator.com at the time that the food industry was not included in any consultations, and had scant information about exactly which products will incur the tax and how it will be administered.

Industry was expected to head into discussions with the government to hammer out the details, but no update has made public and Cavache was not available for comment prior to publication of this article.