COOP and Onde Rosa at TamponTax

COOP and Onde Rosa on the Tampon Tax in the 2024 Budget Law. A step backwards is the return of VAT to 10% on women’s sanitary pads, which discriminates against women and undermines a victory won just a year ago. Mobility is starting again and the petition on Change.org, which was closed a year ago with 683 thousand signatures, is reopening. Goal: “Menstruation is still a luxury!” Reaching 1 million signatures with the slogan. Demonstrating that 5 percent VAT is possible on branded sanitary pads, COOP will be on the shelves as of January 1 and aims to absorb the VAT increase by the end of April 2024 and not pass it on to consumers. It is a step back that discriminates against women and undermines the victory achieved just a year ago, following collective mobilization on the streets, in the Coop sales network and online on the Change.org platform. The Stop Tampon Tax petition, initiated by Onde Rosa, a collective of young women, and undertaken and supported by Coop, was among the most signed in the history of the Change platform in Italy, reaching 683,000 digital signatures (an additional 80,000 digital signatures were also collected). Before the closure, which was announced a year ago, banquets were held at Coop sales points following the positive result.

Namely, the reduction of VAT on feminine sanitary pads by the Meloni Government from 22% of VAT (VAT on luxury goods) to a fairer 5%, in line with other European countries; Spain. However, with the 2024 Budget Law enacted by the Meloni Government, things are changing again and VAT returns to 10 percent on both women’s sanitary pads and other expenditure items that are a burden to women and families (baby diapers, milk powder, etc.). For this reason, Coop and Onde Rosa, who initiated and supported the first mobilization, decided to reactivate the petition, bring the issue to the public’s attention and restart the collection. “Menstruation is still a luxury!” The target is to reach 1 million signatures with the slogan.

For its part, Coop adds another element of tangibility and shows that it is possible to reduce VAT to 5% with its branded sanitary pads, and it does this by placing its own series on its shelves from January 1, 2024, covering the increase in VAT until 2024. the end of April 2024 (the operation is planned until April 30, 2024) in order to avoid infecting consumers. The reactions were unanimous. “Just as exactly one year ago we publicly acknowledged the validity of the Meloni Government’s decision to reduce VAT on sanitary napkins, today we cannot similarly help increase VAT to 10%. but take a position – admits Maura Latini President of Coop Italia – In October 2023, when a similar possibility was feared, we made a public appeal to invite the Government and Parliament to return to an issue that is not only economic. Now let’s restart the mobilization and show by action on our products that it is possible and necessary to reduce VAT, and if, as has been said, this is an ineffective action because it does not reduce prices by itself, then we are faced with speculation. “It must be controlled and, if necessary, punished, but not by canceling the correct measures taken.”

“What we are witnessing is a serious step back for women and society as a whole,” Onde Rosa confirms. In recent years we have seen a grassroots movement grow and establish itself around the Tampon Tax issue, demanding one thing: a review of VAT taxation on essential hygiene products so that the menstrual cycle is no longer seen as a luxury. This rollback, in addition to being sensational, is deeply unfair: according to the facts, thanks to the action of this Government, the menstrual cycle is once again becoming a luxury. For us, there is still anger and the promise of new mobilization.” “The Change.org/StopTamponTax petition, which is the result of bringing together 3 collections of signatures on Change.org by Onde Rosa, Chiara Capraro and Giovanna Luppino, is the most successful campaign for women’s rights on the platform in Italy to date.” It represented the largest and second largest mobilization in the history of Change.org. The magnitude of commitment the campaign has recorded in Italy since 2018 has led politicians to become increasingly interested in the issue, as have similar petitions launched on the platform in other countries where online petitions have managed to receive discounts. The abolition of VAT on these products (for example in Germany) and even its steady and definitive cancellation (as in the UK) Thanks to its signatories, the Stop Tampon Tax campaign has gone from a niche issue to a mainstream issue in Italy For the Italian users of Change.org, whose numbers are approaching 11 million, this is a war of civilization that affects not only women but entire families; This is an irreversible issue of economic and social justice for hundreds of thousands of people,” concludes Fiamma Goretti, Change.org Representative in Italy.