Petition launched for meat tax in Sweden

A petition, started by environmental campaign group Swedish Food and Environment Information (SMMI), to introduce a tax on meat has garnered more than 7,000 signatures.

A new working group has now been formed by the minister for strategy and future issues Kristina Persson to investigate how a meat tax could be used to encourage more sustainable food consumption.

Support from politicians​

SMMI spokesman Toivo Jokkala told MTJ​ the environmental organisation’s petition had drawn support from several politicians and said the idea of introducing a tax on meat had in recent years gone from “science fiction to something that political bodies and the media are starting to talk about in an open way”​.

He said he remained realistic about the low possibility of a meat tax actually being introduced, but said the formation of the working group was a “huge step for a political party to put the idea of meat taxation in their programme”.​