Abstract Saudi Arabia’s residents are the fifth-largest consumers of calories from sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) globally, likely contributing to high rates of overweight and obesity. In 2017, Saudi Arabia implemented the largest SSB tax worldwide, increasing the prices of soft and energy drinks by 50% and 100%, respectively. The purpose of this research is to add to the global discussion on SSB tax design and policy process by highlighting the Saudi Arabia’s barriers and facilitators to implementation. We conducted semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of ten informants among key stakeholders, including government, industry, and health organizations who worked on the sugary drink tax in Saudi Arabia. Interviews were conducted in the five months following tax implementation in June 2017. The questions were designed to understand how the tax originated, the motivations for its structure, and the barriers and facilitators associated with its implementation. A descriptive analysis was conducted. Our results suggest that energy drinks were perceived as more harmful than other soft drinks and thus taxed at a higher rate. We also found that the tax was perceived to be easy to administer by all stakeholders. Post tax implementation, some stakeholders expressed concern about pressures from the World Trade Organization requiring scientific justification for the specific tax rates and beverage categories. In response to the tax, the beverage industry reportedly reduced retail prices and absorbed some of the tax costs. There is a strong interest from the Saudi government in expanding the tax to include all SSBs and other food categories. In conclusion, there were several factors unique to the Saudi environment that facilitated tax implementation. However, our study highlights the importance of explicitly articulating a clear evidence-based rationale for SSB tax administration to enhance sustainability.

中文翻译：

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含糖饮料消费税政策流程和实施：来自沙特阿拉伯的案例研究

摘要 沙特阿拉伯的居民是全球含糖饮料 (SSB) 卡路里的第五大消费者，这可能导致超重和肥胖率居高不下。2017 年，沙特阿拉伯实施了全球最大的 SSB 税，软饮料和能量饮料的价格分别上涨了 50% 和 100%。本研究的目的是通过强调沙特阿拉伯的障碍和促进因素来增加关于 SSB 税收设计和政策过程的全球讨论。我们对主要利益相关者中的 10 名知情人进行了半结构化访谈，其中包括政府、行业和从事沙特阿拉伯含糖饮料税工作的卫生组织。访谈是在 2017 年 6 月税收实施后的五个月内进行的。这些问题旨在了解税收的起源、其结构的动机以及与实施相关的障碍和促进因素。进行了描述性分析。我们的结果表明，人们认为能量饮料比其他软饮料危害更大，因此税率更高。我们还发现，所有利益相关者都认为税收易于管理。税后实施，一些利益相关者对来自世界贸易组织的压力表示担忧，要求对特定税率和饮料类别进行科学论证。据报道，为了应对税收，饮料行业降低了零售价格并吸收了部分税收成本。沙特政府非常有兴趣将税收扩大到包括所有 SSB 和其他食品类别。总之，沙特环境有几个独特的因素促进了税收的实施。然而，我们的研究强调了明确阐述 SSB 税收管理以提高可持续性的明确循证理由的重要性。