The Lithuanian Free Market Institute is pleased to invite you to the conference Paternalist policies and food regulation: objectives and consequences which will be held on the 20th of June 2017 at the Artis Hotel in Vilnius, 23 Totorių Street.
The conference is aimed to initiate public debates on the growing trends of state paternalism, to analyse regulatory food policies in Europe and Lithuania, to evaluate policy approaches and their impact, and to discuss effective alternatives for solving public information and health problems.
The Government of Lithuania has delineated objectives to limit the use of certain food ingredients such as sugar and salt by introducing state-sanctioned limits on how ingredients can be used in food. Taxation is also mentioned among possible policy solutions.
Taxation of food and non-alcohol drinks as a solution in fighting obesity and other illnesses is not a new idea. Economists have analysed evidence from different countries about the impact of such taxes. In January 2013 Denmark revoked a 2011 tax on saturated fat. A year later Denmark abandoned its 80-year tax on fizzy alcoholic drinks. At the same time Estonia and the United Kingdom are now planning to introduce a tax on non-alcoholic sugary drinks.
Which direction should Lithuania take? What would the consequences of taxes and new regulations be? What are the alternatives?
You may register by filling an online registration form no later than 16 June, 2017. For more information contact the Lithuanian Free Market Institute at llri@llri.lt or by phone +370 5 250 0280.
