Draft Contribution Fee for Cigarettes, Sugary Beverages and Snacks from the Ministry of Health

The 25-article draft law prepared within the Ministry of Health is aimed to be submitted to the Presidency of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in October or November. With the regulation aiming at the sustainability of preventive health services and healthy life policies, it is planned to collect certain percentages of contribution from tobacco products, sugary drinks and high-calorie snacks.

20 TL CUT FROM CIGARETTE PACKAGE

According to the draft, it is planned to collect a contribution fee of 20 TL per pack from packaged tobacco products and 100 TL per kilogram from unpackaged tobacco sold by the kilo.

Considering the average annual cigarette consumption of 5.5 billion packs throughout Türkiye, this cut is calculated to transfer approximately 110 billion lira to the fund annually.

SUGAR BEVERAGES AND SNACKS WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO THE FUND

In the prepared draft, the source of financing is not limited to tobacco products only. It is envisaged that contribution fees will also be collected from some other food groups.

Accordingly, it is planned to collect a contribution fee of up to 5 TL per 100 milliliters for sugary drinks, depending on the sugar content they contain.

For snack products whose excessive consumption is not recommended, a contribution fee of 20 percent of the sales price is planned to be collected.

RESOURCES WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO PREVENTIVE HEALTH SERVICES

It is aimed to use the collected resources in projects aimed directly at protecting and improving public health.

The budget is planned to be primarily transferred to school nutrition programs and efforts to combat childhood obesity. In addition, dental health screenings, sports infrastructure investments and healthy living projects are also included in the scope.

Increasing the technical capacity of smoking cessation clinics and supporting nicotine treatments are also among the goals.

It is also planned to allocate resources from the fund to the early diagnosis, screening and treatment processes of tobacco-related diseases such as lung cancer and COPD.

AUTUMN TARGET FOR 25-ARTICLE PROPOSAL

It is expected that the 25-item proposal draft prepared by the Ministry of Health will be given its final form after the technical examinations to be carried out by the AKP group.

While the draft is aimed to be submitted to the Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in October or November, the regulation is planned to be brought to the agenda of the Parliament in the autumn term.