Sugar tax threatens over 9,000 jobs in South Africa
설탕
남아프리카공화국
게시됨 2023년 2월 14일
Tridge 요약
South Africa’s sugar industry risks losing as much as 16% of its cane-growing area and more than a 10th of farm-level jobs if the government raises a levy on sugar-sweetened drinks and expands the tax to other products, according to a new report.
원본 콘텐츠
As much as 53,800 hectares (133,000 acres) of cane-growing land — an area about the size of Guam — and 9,151 jobs may be shed through 2031 due to higher and more broad-ranging taxes that sap local demand for refined sugar, tariff-free imports from neighbouring Eswatini, and increased production costs, according to a paper by the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy published Monday. The report was commissioned by the South African Sugar Association. The industry is facing a crisis partly due to a flood of cheap imports, with annual production dropping by almost a quarter over the past two decades and the number of sugarcane farmers falling by 60%. Sector representatives say the tax on sugar-sweetened beverages that came into effect in 2018 has led to losses of R8 billion in revenue, almost 10,000 jobs and the shutdown of two sugar mills, and have petitioned lawmakers to halt increases in the duty for at least three years. The government raised about R2.2 billion from the ...