The House believes that State Secretary Maarten van Ooijen (Public Health) should take more and faster action to reduce obesity, alcohol consumption and smoking. Because we should have been much further ahead in the Netherlands.
The National Prevention Agreement from 2018 contains agreements to tackle smoking, overweight and problematic alcohol use. But recent figures from Statistics Netherlands show that not much has changed.
without obligation
Too slow, too informal and too fragmented. These are terms that the House uses about the progress of the prevention agreement. There is still too much smoking, too much drinking and too many people are overweight. “Show guts and speed”, PvdA MP Songül Mutluer called on State Secretary Van Ooijen in a debate on lifestyle prevention.
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Both the coalition and the opposition demand pace and concrete actions. VVD MP Rudmer Heerema wants the VAT on fruit and vegetables to be set to 0 percent as soon as possible. “It’s a shame to wait so long for that.” That is not necessary, according to the liberal. According to the minister, the delay is mainly due to the ‘grey area’.
What is fresh fruit?
Together with State Secretary Marnix van Rij (Finance), Van Ooijen is thinking about what exactly falls under fruit and vegetables. Questions such as: should a can of beans or a carton of sieved tomatoes also be exempt from VAT?
Heerema does not see the problem. Everyone knows what fresh fruit and vegetables are, he thinks. First of all, abolish the VAT on that, he suggested, and the coloring of that gray area can be done later.
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Still, Van Ooijen will not come back to this until the summer, he said in the debate. Then the State Secretary will also come up with a proposal to introduce the sugar tax, also a plan from the coalition agreement. He thinks of a progressive tax, in which the tax increases with the amount of sugar in a product, such as in soft drinks.
Do not impose a healthy lifestyle
Various political groups want to lay down a number of prevention goals in law. Van Ooijen is reluctant to do so. Like the House, he wants to achieve health gains for all Dutch people. This is partly possible through statutory regulations, but the government cannot force a healthy lifestyle, said the State Secretary. “The feasibility of goals also depends on the individual choices people make. You cannot enforce them legally.”
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