Sweet deal: How Moroccan lawmakers tackle the sugar lobby

It would take a slight 10% increase in the number of chronically ill patients enrolled in Morocco’s healthcare fund to push it to complete bankrupcy. 

By 2027, the health security scheme would deplete its reserves if it fails to curb recurring deficits, a rising claims ratio, and most distressingly the growing number of people with long-term, costly chronic illnesses who now account for 53% of the AMO expenditures. 

“Ensured chronic illness patients living with diabetes, hypertension, and kidney failure make up about 6% of the paying healthcare beneficiaries nationwide. However, they are consuming a whopping 50% of the national health care fund,” said Mostafa Brahimi, Deputy VP of the Social Sectors Commission in the House of Representatives, WHO EMRO region expert, and Vice-President of the World Parliament against Diabetes in an interview with Hespress EN.

Their illnesses have generally been accepted as a result of a deadly trifecta that shapes modern health issues: excessive and regular consumption of fats, salt and sugar.  The substances are all considered vital in Moroccans’ daily diets, with sugar being one of the few food goods historically subsidized by the state.

In 2018, Brahimi and other members of the Social Sectors Committee, one of the nine standing committees of the House of Representatives, laid the foundation for what they hoped would become a long-term policy that could change Moroccan consumers’ approach to processed sugar and proposed imposing a 50% increase in the domestic consumption tax (TIC) on both carbonated and non-carbonated sugary drinks.

Made up of 45 MPs from various parties, the commission “undertook this strategy following the examples of successful implementations in Mexico for instance, where an evaluation of the tax showed that purchase of drinks subject to the fiscal requirement fell by 7.6% between 2014 and 2016.”

Their goal was simple: Tax sugar to make companies use less of it in their products. The tax is higher if the products have more sugar, making consumers think twice before making unhealthy and expensive choices. The amendments to the 2019 Finance Bill also included a specific value-added tax (VAT) of MAD 70 per hectoliter on beverages containing more than 10 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters.

Both measures received unanimous approval from the Finance Commission and were ratified during a plenary session of the House of Representatives.

Though prior to the approval, resistance from lobbyists was strong. 

“In Morocco, as in other countries around the world, there are as many lobbies or special-interest representatives as there are sectors of activity. However, unlike in other foreign political contexts, where lobbying activities and influence processes take place in broad daylight within a codified, standardized and organized framework, the practice of lobbying in Morocco takes place in a legal vacuum coupled with a resounding discretion and silence,” writes Abdelmjid Lafram in a paper analyzing lobbying practices in Morocco.

The pushback on the sugar tax  was immediate from the powerful “sweets” lobby, made up of soft drinks, sweets and chocolate manufacturers, among others, backed by the Industry Ministry.  

Brahimi explained that interest groups pressured lawmakers with the usual economic talking points about potential financial losses, including closing factories, job losses, reduced profits, fragile market shares and potential customer reactions.

Brahimi and his commission knew they had to tread carefully when changing what was needed “to not disrupt a fragile domestic economy.” 

“We all wanted our local industries to thrive, just not at the expense of consumers’ health.”

Following its successful implementation on soda manufacturers and avoiding a successful push from a potential cross-industrial lobby alliance, the sugar tax was enlarged to include many more sweets manufacturers and products with high sugar levels. 

But other efforts by Brahimi and his commission to cut subsidies on sugar have been altogether blocked by the sugar lobbyists, who argue that reducing subsidies would harm domestic producers against international firms accused of selling products below production cost to drive competitors out of the market, a concern that has influenced a government wary of worsening unemployment, thereby blocking progress on the proposal.

Now that the sugar subsidy is out of the way, and with the sugar tax’s impact on Moroccan sugar consumption uncertain, Brahimi has chosen a new battleground: tackle the disparities in nutritional content between products sold in Morocco and the EU.

A comparative approach to processed foods examining the nutritional quality of packaged foods in the European Union and North African countries reveals stark differences in sugar and fat content between the two regions. 

For breakfast cereals, such as Kellogg’s Cornflakes, the average sugar content in the EU was 8.5%, with a fat content of 0.7%. In contrast, Moroccan brands of similar cereals had an average sugar content of 10.2% and a fat content of 1.2%. 

In the soft drinks category, Coca-Cola in the EU contained 10.6% sugar, while local Coca-Cola variants in Morocco had a slightly higher sugar content, averaging 11%. 

For cookies and biscuits, Oreo Cookies in the EU had about 35% sugar and 20% fat, whereas local Moroccan cookies showed approximately 37% sugar and 22% fat.

Snack foods in the EU, like chips, had an average sugar content of 3-5% and fat content around 25%. Moroccan snacks had higher sugar content, up to 6%, and fat content reaching 28%. 

Even processed dairy products prove different, with EU yogurts containing an average sugar content of 4-7% and fat content of 3-5%. Moroccan yogurts, on the other hand, had sugar content ranging from 6-9% and fat content of 4-6%.

The African market as a whole presents staggering differences in processed food contents, where soft drinks like Pepsi in the EU had about 10.7% sugar, while in some African countries, Pepsi had an average sugar concentration of 11.2%.  

 In addition, legislators are pushing for nutriscore requirements, a label across various products simplifying their health status, just as is the case across the European Union. 

The expert, alongside industry professionals Hespress EN spoke to, say the Government should also encourage physical activity by investing in smart urbanism, allowing the accessibility of sport and physical leisure activities, as well as fiscally supporting water consumption and healthy eating habits. 

Opposing the sugar lobby are key players such as the Moroccan Association for Diabetes and Obesity, along with international organizations like the WHO. These groups employ strategies including public health campaigns, advocacy for stricter regulations, and efforts to increase awareness about the health risks of excessive sugar consumption.

The counterbalancing forces have achieved some success, raising awareness and prompting legislative changes. However, the sugar lobby’s continued influence poses challenges to effectively combating sugar consumption. 

Public health campaigns currently need to be improved in the face of aggressive marketing and increased foreign brand curiosity. 

Worst of all, is the Health Ministry’s “powerlessness” on the subject, though the institution is at the center of this story, and its exclusion from legislative discussions affecting the sugar industry. 

Sources tell Hespress EN that the Health Ministry did not take part in the commission meetings surrounding the sugar tax though “it appreciated the commission’s feat,” but the Industry Ministry was involved in every consultation and meeting preceding the parliamentary consensus.