The Politics of Taxes for Health: An Analysis of the Passage of the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax in Mexico

Abstract

This article explores the politics of passage of the sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax in Mexico, using published documents, media articles, and interviews with key stakeholders. The article examines first the period of agenda setting when the tax was included in the President's fiscal reform package; and second, the period of legislative passage, when the bill was introduced in Congress and was passed. The analysis uses Kingdon's three streams theory of agenda setting, to explain how the tax emerged on the agenda and how agenda setting shaped and enabled legislative passage. The article offers five lessons related to the politics of passing the SSB tax in Mexico. First, passing an SSB tax was difficult and required high-level organization, cooperation, planning, and effort. Second, supporters needed an understanding of how to manage the political and economic context, facilitated by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Third, framing the tax as generating revenue helped get the proposal onto the policy agenda and enabled buy-in from the powerful Ministry of Finance (Hacienda). Fourth, forming networks within the legislature early on allowed tax proponents to have a network of allies within Congress ready when the SSB tax was introduced as a bill. Finally, early public relations campaigns helped shape public perception that Mexico's obesity epidemic was driven in part by SSB consumption. This is the first paper that uses political science theory and primary data collection and interviews with a broad range of stakeholders, to explain how Mexico passed an SSB tax despite opposition from a strong national SSB industry.

Industry strategies in the parliamentary process of adopting a sugar-sweetened beverage tax in South Africa: a systematic mapping

“…Policy makers were sensitive to these claims about potential job losses and the final rate and structure of the tax was amended to try and alleviate the stress on industry in an attempt to mitigate potential employment consequences. The emphasis on this argument parallels the core of industry opposition in Mexico, another middle income setting [27].…”

“…During global efforts to introduce tobacco control, this opposition was comprehensive, well-funded and coordinated across many actors [21,25,26]. In recent years, a similarly coordinated opposition has arisen from large food and beverage companies, particularly multinational corporations (MNCs) [23][24][25][26][27][28]. The SSB industry followed this trend [6,21,[28][29][30].…”

“…More recently, opposition to the adoption of a similar tax in the United Kingdom argued that it would be ineffective in reducing obesity and that SSBs were an inappropriate target [33]. Industry opposition in Mexico focused on how the SSB tax would harm small businesses, negatively impact employment and disproportionately affect the poor as it was regressive, in addition to being ineffective in reducing obesity [27].…”

Ultra‐processed foods and the nutrition transition: Global, regional and national trends, food systems transformations and political economy drivers

“…148,199,201,202 This has occurred at multiple levels, often focusing in battleground jurisdictions, as shown in the intensive lobbying, media campaigns and establishment of front groups to resist the adoption of SSB taxes in U.S. counties and throughout Latin America. [203][204][205] At the international level, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the UN food standard-setting body, has faced intensive lobbying as it often functions as the de facto benchmark for food regulatory agencies in lowand middle-income countries, as well as the reference standard used in WTO trade disputes. 206 Companies and industry groups have skewed the production of knowledge and evidence informing policy and regulatory debates.…”

Taxes on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

“…In January 2014, Mexico enacted an excise tax on SSBs of MXN 1 per liter (approximately 10 percent). Mexico has amongst the highest obesity and SSB consumption rates in the world, and a powerful national SSB industry (James et al 2019). The successful implementation and subsequent evaluation of this tax, despite fierce opposition, is now seen as a tipping point for global action on SSB taxes (Backholer, Blake, and Vandevijvere 2017;WCRF 2018).…”