In a move that is both welcome and long overdue, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently announced the seizure of nearly $34 million worth of unauthorized e-cigarettes during a coordinated operation at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport. The scale and scope of this joint action – nearly 1.4 million units of illegal products – signals a critical shift: enforcement against the illicit vapor market is no longer just theoretical.

Africa is a continent with a serious financing gap. According to the African Union, ‘Africa’s sustainable financing gap until 2030 is about $1.6 trillion,’ and ‘the continent needs additional financing of about $194 billion annually to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. This financing gap is equivalent to 7% of Africa’s GDP’.

New York State is at a critical juncture. Despite legalizing adult-use cannabis more than two years ago, the state has yet to implement a meaningful seed-to-sale tracking system. As a result, the illicit market is not just thriving – it’s dominating.

This month, we sat down with the new Chair of the International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA), Tim McIntyre of Canadian Bank Note Company Limited, to discuss his background, his thoughts on the industry and how he plans to support an evolution of ITSA to take a more agile and proactive leadership position within the field of tax stamps and traceability.

During the 2025 Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum™, Francis Tuffy of Reconnaissance International chaired a panel discussion on the role of physical security features in an increasingly digital landscape, where artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing (QC) are coming to the fore.

Linstrom Marangu, Health Tax Specialist from the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), has confirmed his participation at the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum, which takes place from 7-9 April in Cape Town, South Africa.

Linstrom Marangu, Health Tax Specialist from the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), has confirmed his participation at the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum, which takes place from 7-9 April in Cape Town, South Africa.

Further to our announcement last month of the speakers signed up for this year’s Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum™, from 7-9 April in Cape Town, South Africa, the programme has now been finalised.

In the February 2024 issue of Tax Stamp & Traceability News™, we described how the International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA) had submitted recommendations1 for a secure and interoperable implementation of the EU Digital Product Passport (DPP) to the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC).

There is a common belief that traceability solutions alone will eliminate counterfeiting and simplify product authentication. However, while item-level traceability enhances product transparency, the most commonly adopted technologies come with vulnerabilities, especially in terms of authentication.