Hungary-based ANY Security Printing has signed an agreement to acquire Romanian forms production and personalisation services provider Atlas for €1.37 million ($1.55 million).

OpSec Security has announced its investment in Europe’s first HP Indigo 6K Secure Digital Press, which offers both security and flexibility with its single-pass productivity and secure variable data options.

SICPA has announced a new three-year partnership with Rhizo Verified, a US-based third-party hemp verification, authentication, and traceability solutions company.

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.

The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute – which describes itself as ‘a new generation of global not-for-profit foundation that ensures the world's brightest ideas find their way to materialise, scale and create positive sustainable impact on humanity’ – has entered into an agreement to combat counterfeit and illicit trade in Africa.

Product authentication and consumer engagement solutions provider YPB Group (which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange) has signed a master service agreement (MSA) with a new channel partner, Specific Products, in Thailand, in order to access the high-volume tobacco and tax stamp industries in that country, according to reports in various financial media.

Ashton Potter, a leading provider of high security printing and forensic traceability technology for the private and public sector, and BostonCIO, a professional services information technology consulting firm, have announced a partnership to integrate their ProLinc® and BostonCOMPLY Practical Compliance Automation™ SaaS solutions.

At the end of June, the Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA) and GS1 India joined forces to, as they describe, take the fight against counterfeiting to the next level in India, with the use of global standards.

In the July issue of Tax Stamp & Traceability News™ (TSTN), we referred to a news article in The Kathmandu Post, claiming that Perum Peruri, which had been selected in March to supply tobacco and alcohol tax stamps to Nepal’s Inland Revenue Department (IRD), had failed to show up for the signing of the contract for the stamps, and that the IRD had subsequently initiated legal action against the company.

Domino Printing Sciences, a producer of coding, marking and printing technologies, has acquired Lake Image Systems, a producer of automated, inline, vision-based inspection systems.