This year the Government of Canada made some $36,000 (£19,000) to levy sanitary pads, tampons and menstrual cups.
As of July 1 Canada should avoid regulating female grooming products, the government has reported. Pressure on other regimes grows to follow suit.
Tampons, sanitary towels and menstrual cups would also be included with the amendment, which comes from a bill that gained cross-party approval from private lawmakers. According to CBC news, the subject has always been on the agenda in Canada, with the country’s central cabinet stating they would discuss it in a potential budget.
It’s not explicit why the tax was then put on to get rid of, but New Democratic Party (NDP) legislator Irene Mathyssen called the decision “a victory for all women.”
“The women who made this an issue, their voices have finally been heard,” said Ms Mathyssen in a statement. She had sponsored the private bill on the issue.
“Menstruation products are not things we choose to use,” Jill Piebiak, spokeswoman for the petition “No Tax on Tampons” told CTV news earlier this year when it began gathering signatures.
According to Statistics Canada , the Federal government made over $36,000 (nearly £ 19,000) last year on revenues from female grooming goods that are priced at five per cent.
Petitions for policymakers to nix tax on tampons are rising around the globe. Previously, in Australia, government treasurer Joe Hockey said he’d lobby authorities to abolish the products’ 10 percent sales fee.
In the UK, too, competition is rising, with a petition attracting 235,360 supporters online. At the present, sanitary goods are charged at a fixed rate of five per cent, in accordance with EU law implementing minimum levels.
Ireland has a zero-rate tax on tampons and sheets, although that has been put before legislation which have ensured that rates around the European Union tend to remain the same.
Things not taxed in the UK contain imported foods, Jaffa cookies, bingo and edible cake accessories, advertising demonstrators questioning whether to identify sanitary products as non-essential objects.
