“Official Gazette of the Federation” (DOF)., on December 9, 2013

1. EDX - Critical Thinking
Project:
To analyze the claims, affirmations, arguments and inferences, that appear on the resolution text in
which a new special tax on sugar-sweetened beverages was approved in 2013 in México.
The original text appeared in the DOF on December 9, 2013. Decreto de IEPS a “Bebidas azucaradas,
para bajar la obesidad”.
Sugar-sweetened beverage tax to lower obesity
"The high consumption of sugar-added beverages contributes notoriously to excess energy intake
and is an important factor in the development of overweight and obesity in Mexico, representing a
call to define public policies that favor the reduction of sugar-added beverage consumption.
Considering that the high prevalence of overweight and obesity represents an enormous public
health issue in Mexico, having a State policy to change the eating and physical activity patterns
Mexican society, the Ministry of Health is currently instrumenting a "National strategy for obesity
and diabetes control". The purpose of this initiative is to comply with the strategies established by
the "National Development Plan 2013-2018", in reference to "making protection, promotion, and
prevention actions the core pillar for the improvement of health", thereby following the respective
courses of action, such as: reducing morbidity and mortality caused by non-contagious chronic
diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, and to instrument actions for the prevention and
control of overweight, obesity and diabetes.
Given the problematic high prevalence of these diseases and their impacts, it is essential to reinforce
effective policies and programs for obesity prevention. In this sense, any effort to diminish the
adverse effects of this situation and the cost involved for its treatment should be analyzed not only
from a purely public health policy, which is why a fiscal measure will most likely contribute to the
aforementioned purposes.
In this sense, the present initiative proposed to Mexico's Congress is to levy an IEPS (Special Tax on
Products and Services) tax, by setting, at the producer and importer level, a specific rate of 1
Mexican peso per liter of flavored beverages, including concentrates, powders, syrups, flavor
extracts or essences that when diluted produce flavored beverages that contain any type of added
sugars.
1 What are the arguments of the DOF article?
The high prevalence of overweight and obesity represents an enormous public health issue in
Mexico. However, there is not evidence mentioned in the report that supports the tax measure.
2 Which consistencies or inconsistencies did you find in the document?
The consistency that I found in the document mentions the health problem (overweight and obesity)
and one of the possible causes (high consumption of sugar-added beverages). One inconsistency is
the vague fact that the measure is aligned to the National Development Plan and is not well
explained.

2. 3 Which biases or errors did you find in the arguments (bad arguments, fallacies,omissions, false
inferences, and deceptive statistics)?
I have found deceptive statistics: "The high consumption of sugar-added beverages contributes
notoriously to excess energy intake and is an important factor in the development of overweight and
obesity in Mexico …". It is mentioned that the high consumption of sugar is a critical factor in the
development of overweight and obesity, but it did not mention its actual impact on them. There is
not numerical data that support this claim. We cannot deny that both aspects are linked, but to keep
the tax measure affecting everyone in Mexico, the tax measure should be supported with data.
The text claimed that obesity is caused for sugar-added beverages and omit that obesity is also
linked to the consumption of other types of food. The article can also be interpreted like the
beverage industry is responsible for the high levels of the population and delete the responsibility of
other food industries in the problem.
4 Can conclusions be drawn from the arguments?
The high consumption of sugar-added beverages contributes to the development of overweight and
obesity and the tax responds to a strategy developed for control them and aligns with the "National
Development Plan 2013-2018" strategies and the My personal opinion concerning the article fails to
support the measure properly. No data is supporting the action exclusively in the beverages and not
in other types of food.
5 Is the person's point of view derived from his or her research?
No, the writer of the article mentioned aspects that justify the Mexican government's decision to
create new taxes. There is no point of view in the text since there is no opinion supporting or
rejecting the recent tax decision.
6 How are you ordering your arguments (to avoid being unfocused)?
I start to mention the new tax that has been created. Then, I will show the data supporting this
measure and how it is linked to the problem. Next, I will explain how the new tax will solve the
current issue and try to find examples of similar successful approaches in the world that were
successful. Also, I should mention related measures that are going to be implemented related to the
food industry and avoid stating that it will be just focused on the beverage industry. Finally, I will
mention that the initiative is aligned to a bigger plan and only one action of several that are going to
be implemented.
Bibliography
Decree from the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), December 9, 2013.
ANPRAC http://anprac.org.mx/boletines/