The planned sugar levy on soft drinks should be scrapped or delayed while the UK works through the upheaval created by the Brexit vote, food & drink manufacturers have urged.
Writing exclusively in The Grocer this week, Ian Wright, director general of the Food and Drink Federation, said regulatory stability and predictability was essential in the current climate.
“The government should rethink or at least delay all measures which impose any extra burdens - like the proposed apprenticeship levy and sugar drinks levy - on business at a time of such economic fragility.”
Wright’s call comes amid wider concerns that key regulatory initiatives could be kicked into the long grass post-Brexit. Health campaigners said they worry David Cameron’s long-awaited childhood obesity strategy may never see the light of day, while food safety experts have warned allergy labelling could be set back by Brexit.
The Institute of Food Safety, Integrity & Protection (TiFSiP), which had been working on EU-wide proposals to simplify confusing ‘may contain’ messages on labels, said the future of the UK’s rules on food allergies and intolerances now looked highly uncertain.
“My main concern is that any changes do not reduce consumer protection,” said TiFSiP head Jenny Morris.
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