French Agriculture Minister opposes sugar tax on processed products

French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard has come out in defence of sugar in particular and the agri-food sector in general, opposing the application of a tax on sugar used in food processing by the agri-food industry. Genevard has been very forceful and has said that this tax would be equivalent to putting "balls and screws in the feet" of French industrialists, which is the equivalent of our "putting sticks in the wheels". She has recalled the great difficulties that French industry already has in global markets due to strong competition, so that, in addition, it is the government itself that puts more obstacles in its way. She has mentioned that the French agri-food sector was previously the second most important economic sector in the country and that it is now in sixth position, with the possibility of falling to seventh. In order to increase revenue collection, in the draft law on the financing of Social Security for 2025 in France, the Minister of Health had proposed an ...