Text file: 5231.txt
author: "Branko \u0160ulenta"
downvotes: 19
end consideration date: 2013-12-13
id: '5231'
number comments: 19
number views: 1607
proposal type: Competent authority response
response: "Response from the Ministry of Health\nObesity is a complex phenomenon,\
  \ leading to various diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, certain\
  \ cancers, etc., and is indeed becoming a growing public health problem. In addition\
  \ to genetic abnormalities in the individual (experts estimate that about 5% of\
  \ obese people actually have a gene defect that leads to obesity), energy-dense\
  \ but nutrient-poor food, reduced physical activity due to mostly sedentary work,\
  \ altered patterns of exercise-transport to work and increasing urbanisation are\
  \ in most cases the causes of obesity. In addition, stress also leads to various\
  \ forms of comfort eating and related obesity. There is growing evidence that good\
  \ physical fitness, maintained by adequate daily physical activity, is more important\
  \ than BMI itself for maintaining health.\nPast research shows that the most pronounced\
  \ obesity trends are found in the lowest socio-economic groups, who have the least\
  \ money to buy healthy foods and also have less knowledge and information about\
  \ good nutrition and physical activity.\nThe proposed tax would violate Article\
  \ 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, which guarantees equal human\
  \ rights and fundamental freedoms to everyone in Slovenia, regardless of ethnic\
  \ origin, race, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, property,\
  \ birth, education, social status or any other personal circumstance. It is also\
  \ specifically provided that all legal persons are equal before the law, thus further\
  \ guaranteeing the principle of equality before the law or the principle of legal\
  \ equality. The possible introduction of an obesity tax would violate the principle\
  \ of equality before the law.\nThe World Health Organisation, which we are also\
  \ following with the development of the National Programme on Diet and Physical\
  \ Activity for Health, stresses the importance of a preventive approach in tackling\
  \ the problem of overnutrition and obesity. Changes in eating and exercise patterns\
  \ are often the result of environmental and social changes linked to the development\
  \ of society and represent a major challenge for policy, so we want to focus future\
  \ activities on creating environments that encourage the development and maintenance\
  \ of healthy eating and exercise habits in individuals - i.e. on preventive approaches\
  \ that will limit the very onset of obesity.\n Response from the Ministry of Finance\n\
  We would like to start by explaining that a country's tax policy has two objectives:\n\
  \ to provide the government with the revenue needed to meet its collective needs,\
  \ which have recently become particularly important from the point of view of sustainability\
  \ and consolidation of public finances; and to create the conditions for economic\
  \ growth and (consequently) the well-being of the population through a tax structure\
  \ that is as appropriate as possible.\nIn view of the above, tax policy seeks to\
  \ adopt measures that can maximise the achievement of both these objectives.\nThe\
  \ Ministry of Finance is aware of the need for fiscal consolidation, given the current\
  \ economic and public finance situation, which leaves only limited room for manoeuvre.\
  \ Measures to consolidate public finances need to be designed in a way that ensures\
  \ fair burden sharing across all segments of society.\nWith regard to the initiative\
  \ to introduce a specific tax on overweight, we reply that we do not envisage introducing\
  \ any new taxes at this point in time, which was, after all, also ensured in the\
  \ context of the preparation of the 2014 budget amendment and the adoption of the\
  \ 2015 budget.\n "
response date: 2014-01-03
response due date: null
sent date: 2013-11-14
title: The new tax
upvotes: 20
url: https://predlagam.vladi.si/predlog/5231
