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Sports nutrition industry unites against Government ‘health tax’
An alliance of UK sports nutrition companies has today condemned plans by the Chancellor to impose VAT on sports nutrition drinks and pledged to fight what it has dubbed a ‘health tax’.
Under surprise proposals announced by the Chancellor during the Budget, some sports nutrition drinks will be subject to the 20 percent rate of VAT for the first from 1 October. Some sports nutrition drinks have previously been zero-rated for VAT. The Government has announced it will hold a shortened consultation of just six weeks on the tax increase and has claimed in what the alliance is calling a “deeply flawed” impact assessment that it expects the cost to each business to be an average of £40.
The UK Specialist Sport Nutrition Alliance (UK SSNA) has condemned the Chancellor’s proposals – claiming the tax increase will constitute a tax on health and nutrition at a time when the UK is facing an unprecedented obesity crisis and preparing to host the Olympics. The alliance has warned that imposing additional costs on consumers could result in them purchasing unsafe, unregulated and untaxed products online – or otherwise being penalised for following Government advice to be more active.
The alliance has also claimed the Treasury has underestimated the effect of the tax increase and is not allowing sufficient time for consultation.
Chris Whitehouse, Campaign Director of the UK SSNA, said:
“With the Olympics around the corner and an ever-growing national problem of obesity, it makes no sense for the Government to hike up the cost of products designed to promote good health.
“By cutting the length of its consultation, the Government has nailed its colours to the mast and clearly expects to force this through with Parliament away for the Easter holidays. This measure is ill-considered, unwelcome and will either push consumers away from healthy products or towards alternatives they find on the web that will be unregulated and quite possibly unsafe. The Government should be allowing the standard 12 weeks of consultation to ensure it has fully considered all the implications of its decision.”
Robin Holiday, Managing Director, CLF Distribution, the largest independent UK distributor of sports nutrition products, said:
“This is an extremely disappointing decision by the Chancellor that will penalise members of the public looking out for their wellbeing. In the year that we’re hosting the Olympics it seems quite bizarre that the Government should be trying to impose a health tax, when other less healthy food and drinks such as milk shakes, drinking chocolate and Jaffa cakes continue to be zero-rated for VAT.”
Gary Anderson, Performance Director for British Bobsleigh, said:
"Sport Nutrition is particularly important to a bobsleigh performance athlete, as part of the overall support to our squad we value the input of USN. As a weight controlled sport, competing in sometimes difficult environments it is essential that our athletes are able to access adequate nutrition.
“The energy expenditure of our athletes is high and refuelling appropriately is crucial. During training we encourage athletes to maximise the recovery process and get optimal results and nutritional intake is paramount in this area."
The UK SSNA has launched a petition that it hopes will generate 10,000 signatures on an open letter to George Osborne, calling for him to reverse his decision www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/vatonsportsdrinks
Notes
The UK SSNA is an alliance of UK-based sports nutrition companies that produce and distribute sports nutrition drinks. The Alliance was formed on 29th ~March 2012 to campaign against the Government’s decision to introduce VAT at a rate of 20 percent on sports nutrition drinks from 1 October 2012.
Members include Atlantic Multipower, Bodybuilding Warehouse, BodyTemple, BulkPowders, Cellucor, CLF, Energy Active Ltd, Glanbia, HighFive, Kinetica, MaxiMuscle, MyProtein, NBTY, Performance Nutrition, Powerhouse-Fitness, Predator Nutrition, QNT UK, Reflex Nutrition, Sci-Mx, Smart-Tec PhD Nutrition Ltd, US Nutrition, USN, and Weider Publishing.
For further information or comment from Chris Whitehouse or Robin Holiday, please contact Chris Rogers on 020 7793 2536 / 07720 054189, or email Chris.Rogers@whitehouseconsulting.co.uk
