PETALING JAYA: The 10sen increase in the excise duty on sugary drinks will see manufacturers producing more sugar-free products and at lower prices, say consumer advocates.
With Malaysia having one of the cheapest sugar prices in the Asean region, coupled with the high demand by the public, this has led to industry players producing a variety of sweet products.
This has, in turn, led to the high diabetes and obesity rate in Malaysia, which is causing further strain on the country’s health system.
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It is estimated that one in five adult Malaysians are living with diabetes, one in three are living with hypertension, and nearly half are overweight or obese, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
As such, consumer advocates lauded the government’s move to increase the sugary drinks excise duty, adding that it is an initiative that should be welcomed by the public.
Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) president Mohideen Abdul Kader said the increase in the excise duty will encourage the reduction of sugar consumption among Malaysians as they will buy fewer sugary products.
At the same time, he suggested the government take a leaf out of Singapore’s book in dealing with high sugar consumption by making food and beverage outlets and producers indicate the sugar levels in each product.
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“Logically, this will push the industry to produce sugar-free products that are cheaper instead of the other way around because they will want to maintain their market.
“There should be labelling on the content of sugar in products. The government should ask the industry to clearly state what the sugar level is (in each product) so that consumers can decide whether or not to buy it,” he said.
When tabling Budget 2024 on Oct 13, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government has decided to increase the current excise duty rate for sugary drinks from 40sen to 50sen per litre.
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The revenue from the excise duty will be specifically allocated for addressing and treating diabetes, including support for dialysis centres, he added.
The National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019 revealed that the prevalence of diabetes in adults in the country increased from 13.4% in 2015 to 18.3% in 2019.
Data from 2021 by the Malaysian Dialysis and Transplant Registry found that among the over 9,000 new dialysis patients reported in the country, a staggering 53% of them have diabetes.
In its 2018 report, the Malaysian Dialysis and Transplant Registry said 69.2% of new patients on dialysis have Type 2 diabetes.
Mohideen welcomed Anwar’s announcement on using the extra revenue to treat diabetes and improve dialysis centres.
Currently, each patient in Malaysia is estimated to spend between RM29,092 and RM33,642 per year on dialysis treatments, according to a study by the International Journal of Nephrology.
The 2019 Kidney International Report said that kidney disease is causing a heavy burden on the healthcare sector with Malaysia spending about RM3.3bil a year on chronic kidney disease and end-stage kidney disease care.
According to the Health Ministry in its 2018-2025 National Action Plan for Healthy Kidneys report, the cost is expected to exceed RM4bil by 2040 as 106,000 patients are expected to live on dialysis.
“Malaysia is a ‘jaguh kampung’ (village champion) for the wrong reasons. We are (among) the most diabetic country in Asean, and all this can be linked to the fact we have the lowest cost of sugar in the region,” said Holista Colltech Ltd founder and CEO Datuk Dr Rajen M.
To overcome diabetes and obesity among Malaysians, he said the industry needs to be aware, take responsibility and start producing healthier, less sugary products.
“The industry uses a lot of sugar because it’s cheap and making sugar-free products requires expensive ingredients, that’s why sugar-free products are more costly.
“There is a strong correlation between price and behaviour – when the price goes up, people will consume less sugar and we will see sugar-free products becoming cheaper.
“It (the excise duty increase) will force the industry to become more innovative in its sugar replacement.
“They will find ways to reduce the sugar so that they don’t have to pay (the high) tax and as a result, Malaysians will get better products,” he said when contacted.
A leading soft drink manufacturer said Malaysians have already started to reduce their consumption of sugary drinks.
Food and Beverage company Etika Group of Companies pledged to promote a healthier lifestyle through its products, adding that the firm will continue to work in line with government policies and guidelines.
Its CEO Santharuban Thurai Sundaram said Anwar’s announcement has strengthened the company’s commitment to provide more healthy options for consumers.He said even before the government announced the excise duty hike, nearly 70% of its offerings were non-sugar-added beverages.
“This announcement reinforces our dedication to expanding our portfolio of healthier beverage choices and investing more in research and development to innovate in this direction.
“We believe in giving our customers more options to make informed and health-conscious choices while enjoying our products,” he said.
