Launching the petition in Zagreb, HSS president Branko Hrg said the party wanted "to test public opinion and show the government that it must start caring about citizens and not just about collecting budget revenues."
According to the party's consumer basket, a four-member family spends HRK 2,800 on food per month, Hrg said, adding that a slashed VAT on food would help save HRK 250-300 a month.
He recalled that when Croatia joined the European Union, scheduled for July 1, 2013, there would be no zero VAT rate on any product, even bread or milk.
Asked by the press if the petition would yield results, Hrg said that it would if the government did not turn a deaf ear to people's demands again.
Signatures will be collected for the next fortnight, after which the party will meet with the unions to officially request from the government that VAT on food be slashed from 25 to 10 per cent.