Lift of excise on energy drinks turned down

TIRANA, Nov. 19 – Majority MPs of the economy parliamentary committee has turned down a government proposal to lift the excise duty on energy drinks and the reduction of mining royalty only for chrome.
Erion Bra襬 the head of the parliamentary economy committee, says the excise rate on energy drinks, introduced in 2014, should continue as this regime is applied in every EU country.
The Socialist Party MP says that the cut in the mining royalty should also include copper, zinc, nickel and all other mineral extracted in Albania to give a stimulus to their domestic procession.
Since Jan. 2014, an excise rate of 50 lek/litre was introduced on energy drinks, the overwhelming majority of which is imported.
Customs administration data shows some 3,339 tonnes of energy drinks were imported in the first three quarters of this year and 992 tonnes domestically produced collecting only 216 million lek (Euro 1.5 million) in excise duties.
The Finance Ministry says the excise tax has had a negative impact especially on domestic operators and problems with their classification because of lacks of labs.
“Economic operators have also changed the classification of energy drinks in order not to be considered as excise products, especially in import, which has damaged the domestic production of these drinks whose cost is higher compared to that of import,” argues the Finance Ministry.