According to Tobacco Reporter, Indonesia’s government is conducting an in-depth review of its cigarette excise system following allegations of forgery and manipulation, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said after a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto.

In September, technical experts from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Secretariat engaged with Chad government officials, parliamentarians, civil society organisations and other national stakeholders in a joint needs assessment to support the country’s implementation of the FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, which it has been party to since 2018.

Argentina’s cigarette tax stamps have undergone a redesign following the transformation of the country’s tax authority from the Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos (AFIP) to the Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero (ARCA). While the change reflects new institutional branding and regulatory updates under General Resolution 5603/2024, the stamps’ core optical security features remain firmly in place.

Tax Stamp & Traceability News™ readers may remember Carolina Saravia from the 2024 article ‘Chile’s Tobacco Traceability System Uncovers Illicit Production in Santiago’.

As of 31 May, Chile’s largest beverage company, CCU, will increase consumer prices on nectars, hypotonic and isotonic drinks, by 9%, to absorb a change in the calculation of value-added tax on non-alcoholic drinks. The change was announced in April by the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII), Chile’s tax authority.

At the recent World Customs Organisation (WCO) Council session, in Brussels, Edward Kieswetter, Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS), was elected as chairperson of the Council, replacing Shaikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Director General of Bahrain Customs.

One of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in United Nations history, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) celebrates its 20th anniversary in May 2023.

Secure marking and excise taxes operate hand in glove. But excise duties usually account for a small percentage of countries’ overall tax take.

At the recent Tax Stamp Forum™ in Budapest one question that kept coming up was: what is the status of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) tender for a tax stamp or secure marking solution for tobacco products? (The current SARS tender has already been extended twice, with the closing date for submissions now set for 31 October 2019.)