Food manufacturers buck sugar tax on milk

Food manufacturers want legislators to exempt milk products from a planned sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) tax that is included in sweeping revenue reforms being pushed by the government.

“We respectfully pray that the Senate will not include any milk tax in House Bill [HB] 5636 because we firmly believe that by taxing milk, it will deprive the lower income and undernourished segments of the population of access to a rich source of affordable nutrition-milk,” said Elizabeth de Leon-Lim, president of Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers, Inc.