Is there a tax on meat in Russia and in the world?

Where did the talk about the “meat tax” come from and what to expect in reality

Alexey Ivanov, HEAD of the Eat Better project, talks about this in his article.

In recent days, the news has been actively discussing the possibility of introducing a tax on MEAT. it all started with BEYOND MEAT CEO Ethan Brown saying in an interview with the BBC: “I think the concept of the Pigouvian tax, which is to tax things that have a big negative impact, I find interesting. I am not an economist, but in general I intuitively like this type of tax, and not only on meat.”

A day later, at Archipelago 2121, Dmitry Peskov, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Digital and Technological Development, said the following: “As the temperature rises, the models will be revised towards other sources of CO2. For example, agriculture. This means that in a few years we will first be loudly indignant, and then we will be forced, for example, to accept a tax on meat.

On the same day, Dmitry Peskov clarified to Kommersant that the people of RUSSIA themselves are not threatened by the introduction of a tax on meat. “Such taxes may have to be introduced by the largest meat exporters,” he said.

But since Russia does not EXPORT meat to the EU (the main buyers of meat and dairy products from Russia are  CHINA , Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus), it is unlikely that such taxes will affect it, as it is already beginning to happen with the export of iron and steel to the EU.

Food production—compared to steel production—has less impact on the environment and climate change. However, this area is responsible for about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the production of meat - primarily beef - has the greatest impact.

First of all, because of this, there is talk about the need to introduce taxes on meat and similar proposals. In turn, the production of most plant-based protein sources, such as wheat, peas and rice, has a significantly lower environmental impact.

The presidential envoy also noted that “two things are extremely important for Russia: a regenerative economy model for agriculture, with a minimal carbon footprint, and building a compensatory sector of the economy associated with the use of proteins.”

Earlier, in July 2021, the Russian Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights in July recommended that the Ministry of HEALTH and Rospotrebnadzor develop economic incentives for producers of plant-based food products, including plant-based alternatives to meat. The same measures are proposed to be prepared for catering establishments that offer such food.

“Rospotrebnadzor, the Ministry of Health of Russia: to develop recommendations on increasing the share of the use of plant products in public catering establishments in state and municipal institutions, holding “days without meat”,” the Council said in a statement.

Therefore, in the coming years, Russia will not be talking about “taxes on meat”, but, first of all, about supporting the production of plant-based alternatives. Over the past 2 years, more than 10 producers of "Russian Beyond Meat" have appeared in the country. More than half of them are meat processors.

Also, over the past year, the Union of Producers of Plant-Based Products and the Association of Producers of Alternative Food Products have appeared in Russia. Both organizations promote and regulate plant-based alternatives to animal products.  

How is meat tax treated in other countries?

A DVJ Insights study found that 70% of consumers in Germany, France and the Netherlands support a meat tax that includes environmental costs if tax revenues are used to reduce VAT on fruits and vegetables.

Boris Johnson, in turn, said that there will be no new taxes on meat or carbon in the UK. And in China, where 28% of all meat in the world is consumed, in 2016 they issued recommendations to reduce the consumption of meat by the population by 50% by 2030.