Foodstuff, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

The federation has drawn up a letter, expressing concern over the Health Ministry's "light-minded attitude towards Latvian producers".

The Latvian Federation of Food Enterprises wants to see the ministry's estimates on the impact of these measures on Latvia's food industry, economy, tax revenue and residents' purchasing capacity. It is unacceptable that the ministry offers to solve the problem of limited budget funds by raising the existing taxes and introducing new taxes without taking into account the potential consequences, points out the federation.

According to the federation's estimates, if these measures are implemented, they may result in LVL 500,000 worth of additional costs, posing threat to food producers' operations.

The Health Ministry's desire to collect additional LVL 20 million from food producers will affect not only businessmen, but also consumers. "We demand the ministers to find time to meet and explain the Health Ministry's proposals and the government's plans in this regard," emphasizes the federation.

As reported, applying excise tax to separate groups of unhealthy food products and raising excise tax on tobacco, alcohol and gambling will net LVL 33.7 million to the 2014 national budget, Circene explained during a press conference yesterday.

The Health Ministry has drafted a bill on amending the Law on Excise Tax, defining specific product groups to which these changes would apply.