“Liquor industry rejects 40% tax proposed in tax reform”
LAFM reports:
“The spirits industry association pointed out that the sector accounts for 1.5% of the national GDP and generates more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs throughout the country.
“The document was signed by the Antioquia Liquor and Alcohol Factories (EICE), Caldas Liquor Industry, Cundinamarca Liquor Company, Valle Liquor Industry, Fábrica de Licores del Tolima, Nueva Licorera de Boyacá, Industria Licorera del Cauca, Unidad de Licores del Meta, and Aguardiente Nariño, along with the international companies Pernod Ricard, Brown Forman, and Global Wine and Spirits.”
“Tax reform encourages the liquor that kills”
Op-Ed by Juan Carlos Buitrago Arias in Las 2 Orillas:
“Brazil is facing a new health crisis caused by the adulteration of alcoholic beverages, after a recent wave of methanol poisoning that has sparked public alarm. Police confirmed 11 cases directly linked to adulterated beverages and keep 116 suspected cases under investigation. In São Paulo, authorities certified a death from methanol through laboratory tests, while 11 others remain under analysis.
“This phenomenon, although not new, has intensified in the region. In Colombia, just a few days earlier, a similar tragedy in Barranquilla has left fifteen people dead and ten hospitalized after consuming adulterated liquor sold illegally in plastic bottles at ridiculous prices – between $2,000 and $4,000 Colombian pesos. Behind that apparent bargain was a death sentence. …
“A study by Euromonitor (2020) revealed that the Colombian State stopped receiving about 678 million dollars annually in taxes due to the trade in illegal beverages. This tax loss is explained because, according to figures from the National Police as of June 2023, about 24% of the liquor circulating in the country is illegal and half of it – 12% – is adulterated. …
“The recent tragedy in Barranquilla forces an urgent review of public policy. Paradoxically, the imminent tax reform could be generating incentives that favor this type of crime. The Colombian Executive has put on the table an ambitious fiscal initiative, seeking to raise an additional $435.8 billion through a considerable increase in the tax burden on alcoholic beverages.”
Other articles on the same topic
“A path to free and honest progress” (Op-ed by José M Restrepo in El Heraldo)
Assessment
The active involvement of multinational alcohol industry giants, such as Pernod Ricard and Brown Forman, shows how opposition to fair alcohol taxation extends beyond national borders. These global producers are coordinating with Colombia’s state-owned liquor companies to resist reforms that would promote people’s health, social development, and fiscal space.
But alcohol industry lobbyists are deploying the global interference playbook: exaggerated economic claims about jobs and competitiveness to mask their commercial interests in selling more alcohol to Colombians to drive profits, while society is left to deal with the health, social, and economic harms. Economics For Health research shows that the total economic costs due to alcohol harm in Colombia amount to 1% of GDP in Colombia.
Alcohol policy advocates and legislators promoting the public interest are now collaborating to ensure that all beverages – including beer, which was removed from the initial proposal under alcohol industry pressure – are included in the tax reform.