Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Calvillo, Alejandro
• Espinosa, Fiorella

Titel

CAMPAIGN STRATEGY FOR A TAX ON SUGARSWEETENED BEVERAGES IN MEXICO

Ist Teil von

• Annals of nutrition and metabolism, 2017-10, Vol.71 (Suppl. 2), p.76

Ort / Verlag

Basel: S. Karger AG

Erscheinungsjahr

2017

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Background and objectives: Mexican civil society organizations together with academics and public interest lobbyists played a fundamental role in securing the approval of a 1-peso-per-liter tax ($0.05 U.S. dollars [USD]) on sugar-sweetened beverages, and subsequently have succeeded in defending this fiscal measure against attempts of the industry to reduce and eliminate it. Methods: The tax on sugary beverages in Mexico was achieved through a three-pronged effort, that included academics, a large network of civil society organizations, and lobbyists working in the public interest. The civil society campaign strategy was composed of three stages: a) exposing the human drama of obesity and diabetes, including its catastrophic future consequences, in order to generate the urgency to act; B) highlighting one of the main causes of this tragedy, which is the consumption of sugary drinks and, c) presenting a proposal for the first action necessary to confront this situation, a tax on sugary drinks. The campaign focused on transmitting these three campaign stages through both traditional media and social networks using a variety of tools: academic forums, public demonstrations, public campaigns (in traditional media), formal and ironic videos (in social networks). The campaign also ensured the maintenance of a strong and consistent presence in the media and the capacity to react quickly to the strategies of the beverage industry to stop this measure. Results:The tax was presented by the executive branch as part of the 2013 fiscal reform package and was approved by Congress despite strong lobbying of the beverage industry, which experienced its highest sales per capita in Mexico, the country that is also home to the largest Coca Cola bottling plant in the world. In 2015, civil society, academia and public interest lobbyists were able to curb the industry's attempt to reduce the tax levied on sugary drinks that contained under a certain threshold of sugar. Conclusions: The experience of the struggle for a sugary- sweetened beverage tax in Mexico demonstrates three important lessons. First, the importance of collaboration among academia, civil society organizations, and the work of public interest lobbyists with decision-makers. These three axes are essential to provide evidence and build consensus for the need for a tax on these products. Secondly, the Mexican experience demonstrates the need to make the dimension of the health problem resulting from the consumption of these drinks, visible, in order to create awareness across the population for the need to act, and consistently relying on scientific evidence to support such action. Thirdly, the importance of rigorous activism to maintain the topic in the public eye and to constantly explore diverse and attractive ways of communicating and engaging the public on the issue.