Ethiopia is looking to introduce tax stamps and track and trace for the first time, with the Ministry of Finance issuing a request for expression of interest to provide a technology solution for an excise stamp and track and trace system.

Polyart Group, a supplier of film and paper substrates for the specialty label market, and EDGYN, a security solutions specialist, have announced a partnership for the Asia Pacific region.

The Department of Excise & Taxation of Chandigarh (one of 36 states in India) has invited an expression of interest for the selection of a technology for a tax stamp and end-to-end track and trace system on alcohol products.

The government of Nepal’s Security Printing Center in Kathmandu has issued an invitation for electronic bids for the secure printing, supply, and delivery of excise stamps on behalf of the Inland Revenue Department.

In the world of public tenders, the acronyms RFI and RFP, as well as some others, are used on a regular basis by government institutions all over the world, as well as their authorised suppliers and, of course, the media. But does everyone really know what they stand for? And what their usage is, or should be?

Over the past few months, a number of interesting tenders for tax stamps and track and trace systems have been issued by various revenue authorities across the world. Most of these tenders are characterised by two things: 1) their need for extensive systems that cover physical tax stamps, secure track and trace, and even production line monitoring; 2) their need for systems that cover a wide range of products.

Georgia has a remarkably successful tobacco tax stamp programme which has been reported on in Tax Stamp & Traceability News™ (TSTN). Here we interview two managers from the Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia (GRS), Levan Dgebuadze, head of the Service Department, and Samson Uridia, head of the International Relations Department, to find out more about it.

An ongoing issue of concern to the tax stamp world has recently resurfaced. The issue refers to the recent release of tax stamp tender specifications for Oman, which appear to eliminate all but a seemingly preselected supplier, thereby rendering what should be a competitive tender almost non-competitive.

In March, the consortium of Authentix, Inc, MITAS Corporation and AJCL Private Limited finalised a licence agreement with the Pakistan Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to implement a track and trace system on tobacco, cement, sugar and fertiliser. The agreement covered an initial five-year term, with a three-year extension option.

The Pakistan Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has held a pre-bidding conference for granting a five-year licence for what it describes in a public announcement as an ‘IT-based Solution for Electronic Monitoring (Track and Trace System) for Tobacco Products, Sugar, Fertiliser and Cement’.