Gleitsmann Security Inks (GSI) has launched what it terms the ‘world’s first traffic light for banknotes’, in the form of mouveGSI, a unique security feature that will also help safeguard security documents such as tax stamps using luminescent colour effects.

The news of the untimely demise of Mr U K Gupta has left the Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA) family and the entire authentication industry in shock.

In France and the UK, there have been recent news stories of cigarette packs identified in the market as illicit because they were all carrying the same ID number (when this number should in fact be unique to each pack). What was not mentioned in these reports, however, was whether or not the packs were carrying authentication labels, which they are obliged to do under the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD).

CCL Design has announced a partnership with iTRACE Technologies, a leading provider of supply chain security applications for anti-grey and anti-counterfeit markets. The partnership will integrate the iTRACE 2DMI® smartphone authentication capability with CCL Design’s HP Indigo-based security label production.

The Australian brand protection and consumer engagement solutions provider YPB Group has launched MotifMicro™, its forensic, smartphone-readable, anti-counterfeit technology for high-volume applications, which will provide individualised markers for products and documents.

Track and trace, trace and track, supply chain transparency, traceability… a confusion of terms to describe the use of an encoded unique identifier to determine the source and the pathway of an individual product.

During March and early April, De La Rue ran its inaugural Excise Tax Protection Course. The six-module course, delivered as online seminars, was aimed at government excise managers and professionals and was by invitation only. De La Rue plans for the course to become an annual event.

In last month’s issue of Authentication News®, we looked at the tantalising prospect of combining the analytical capability and connectivity of a smartphone with the authenticating power of a hologram, touching on how reliance on end-user knowledge of hologram features could be alleviated by the use of smartphones to verify the holograms.

Smart packaging is an area that is pertinent to the interests of our community. It has links to track and trace, product labelling and interaction with the brand through technology. The aim of this article is to take a wider look at trends in smart packaging and consider some of the potential implications for tax stamps and track and trace solutions.

The Gaelic word ‘whisky’ can roughly be translated into English as ‘water’ and so it comes as no surprise that sales of the golden liquid are worth roughly £5 billion annually to Scotland’s economy. As with many premium products, whisky is a favourite target for counterfeiters, which not only takes income away from the legitimate brand owner but deprives revenue authorities of much needed taxes.