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Soft drinks in Mexico
墨西哥軟飲料
Fizzing with rage
嘶嘶憤怒
A once-omnipotent industry fights what may be a losing battle
一個曾經無所不能的行業的一場必敗之仗
LA MANSION steakhouse inside Mexico's lower house of Congress has become the headquarters of a lobbying effort the likes of which congressmen say they have never seen before.
墨西哥國會下議院LA大廈內的牛排餐廳已成為游說廣場，國會議員們說他們以前從未見過。
There is so much wining and dining that one lawmaker, proposing a bill on October 15th to regulate the lobbyists, claimed he was talking to a half-empty floor because his colleagues were too busy being schmoozed at La Mansion.
這里有這么多的美酒和美食，一個國會議員于10月15日提出了一項法案以規范游說，因為他的同事們忙于在La大廈閑聊，他抱怨說自己在對地板說話。
The lobbyists work mainly for soft-drinks companies such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and their respective Mexican bottlers Femsa and Cultiba.
這些游說者主要為軟飲料公司，如可口可樂、百事公司和他們在墨西哥的飲料瓶公司Femsa和Cultiba工作。
Their focus is a proposal currently under debate in Congress to slap an excise tax of one peso on to the price of a litre of fizzy drinks.
他們關注的焦點是一個建議，目前國會正在辯論的一升碳酸飲料征收一比索的消費稅。
Though the industry has faced down consumer activists in the past in Coca-Cola's biggest market by volume outside the United States, this initiative comes directly from President Enrique Pea Nieto.
雖然行業之前說服了消費者活動家，這里是可口可樂在美國以外最大的銷售市場，這一舉措直接來自總統恩里克·佩尼亞·涅托。
The lobbyists may have blundered in their attempt to kill it.
游說者在試圖扼殺此稅的努力中做錯了。
The government's argument is simple.
政府的理由很簡單。
Mexicans consume too many fizzy drinks.
墨西哥人消耗太多的碳酸飲料。
The habit has helped make the country one of the most obese in the world, and obesity is a killer:
這個習慣使墨西哥成為世界上最肥胖的國家之一，而肥胖是一個殺手：
Mexico's mortality rates from diabetes are staggeringly high. The government proposed the sin tax to discourage soft-drinks consumption.
墨西哥的糖尿病死亡率高得驚人。政府提出了罪惡稅以阻止軟飲料消費。
The industry's reaction has been apoplectic.
業界的反應是憤怒。
In full-page ads in national newspapers it has argued that the tax is regressive and satanises soft drinks, which it claims do not cause obesity.
在全國性報紙的整版廣告認為這項稅收是退步的和丑化不會引起肥胖軟飲料。
With a hint of xenophobia, the lobbyists call it the Bloomberg tax, because New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has also sought to tax fizzy drinks.
伴隨著一個仇外心理暗示，游說者稱它為彭博稅，因為紐約市長邁克爾·布隆伯格也設法對碳酸飲料征稅。
Bethany Gomez of Euromonitor International, a consultancy, says the industry is right to be worried.
歐睿國際的伯大尼·戈麥斯說業內人士的擔心不無道理。
More than half the fizzy drinks sold in Mexico are in bottles of two litres or more, which is where the extra pesos would be most noticeable.
超過一半的在墨西哥銷售的碳酸飲料每瓶在兩升以上，多征收的比索將是很明顯的。
A switch to smaller sizes would hit volumes.
變成小包裝會打擊銷售量。
What is more, the tax may set a precedent.
更重要的是稅收可能會開創一個先例。
Coca-Cola seems to be worried that whatever happens here could spread to the rest of Latin America, says Javier Trevio, a ruling-party lawmaker.
可口可樂似乎擔心，無論在這里發生什么事都可能會蔓延到拉丁美洲的其余地方，執政黨國會議員哈維爾·特雷維尼奧說。
The lobbyists have made some missteps, congressmen say.
國會議員說游說者已經有一些失誤。
They have created enemies in other industries by proposing that the tax be charged on sugar content, not just on soft drinks.
他們因建議根據軟飲料含糖量征稅創造了在其他行業的敵人。
That angers companies like Nestle, which makes sugary snacks, as well as Mexico's politically connected sugar-cane producers.
這激怒了生產含糖食品的雀巢公司以及墨西哥與政治勢力有關系的甘蔗生產者。
They have also been too overt in their lobbying, in a political system that is used to more subtle forms of collusion between lawmakers and business.
他們在游說時表現的太明顯，尤其是在國會議員和商業的關系很微妙的一個政治制度時。
One of Femsa's main lobbyists, a former ruling-party bigwig, is said to have had a blazing row with the current head of the party in the lower house, who resented being bossed around.
可口可樂的主要游說者之一，前執政黨要人，與現任執政黨下議院的頭頭進行了激烈的爭吵，而此人討厭被別人頤指氣使。
So the soft-drinks lobbyists' tactics may have backfired.
所以軟飲料游說者的策略可能會適得其反。
As The Economist went to press there was still no final agreement on the soft-drinks tax—but congressmen appeared ready to approve the one-peso levy—as well as extending another tax to junk food.
如經濟學家所說現在對軟飲料稅仍然沒有達成最終協議，但國會似乎準備批準比索征收以及另一個垃圾食品稅。
