PUTRAJAYA: The government has agreed to postpone the implementation of excise duty on ready-to-drink packaged sweetened beverages to July 1, 2019.
Customs director-general Datuk Seri T. Subromaniam in a statement today said the postponement was aimed at giving sufficient time to the industry to make the necessary preparations.
“In addition, this will allow the Royal Malaysian Customs Department to carry out roadshows and to issue licences to sweetened beverage manufacturers under the Excise Act 1976,“ he said.
Subromaniam added that the government has also agreed to raise the threshold of sugar content from 5 grammes (gm) to 7gm per 100 milliliters (ml) for milk-based beverage products containing lactose (flavoured milk) classified under tariff heading 22.02, excluding soy milk products.
“The increase in sugar content threshold shows the government’s concern over efforts to continue promoting the consumption of the milk-based products with healthy level of sugar, among consumers,“ he said.
In Budget 2019, the government announced a proposal to introduce an excise duty on sweetened beverages at 40 cents per litre on two categories of ready-to-drink packaged sweetened beverages.
The products are beverages under the tariff heading 22.02 which contains sugar or other sweeteners exceeding 5 gm per 100 ml and fruit and vegetable juices under the tariff heading 20.09 which contains sugar exceeding 12 gm per 100 ml. — Bernama
