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).

One of the features in the final issue of Tobacco Reporter, published in December 2024, described how the Belarusian tobacco industry has been shrouded in secrecy for over a decade.

As we enter the new year, the question on our readers’ minds is: what are the significant developments that will shape the industry over the coming 12 months? We asked members of the International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA) to share their perspectives on what could define the year ahead, with predictions covering technological innovations, market expansions and evolving sustainability priorities.

While we are used to seeing informative and dynamic presentations of banknote designs and security features on central bank websites, imagine our surprise when we came across a presentation of tobacco authentication labels on the Swedish Public Health Agency site!

Hong Kong’s new Commissioner of Customs and Excise Chan Tsz-tat has announced that a tax stamp system for tobacco could be introduced in the third quarter of 2026 at the earliest, with a pilot scheme set for mid-2025.

The programme for this year’s Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum (from 7-9 April in Cape Town, South Africa) is shaping up nicely, with some important themes on the agenda. This article describes some of these themes, which will be presented as workshops, standalone papers or panel discussions.

In India, cigarettes are expected to be among the first products to be brought under a track and trace mechanism aimed at curbing tax evasion, following amendments to the Central Goods & Services Tax (GST) Act. Pan masala (a popular chewing mixture) may also be included in the initiative.

Following a competitive tender, Smurfit Kappa Security Concepts (SKSC) has been awarded a contract by the Office of the Revenue Commissioners – the Irish government agency responsible for customs and excise – to supply tobacco tax stamps, in the wake of tax increases introduced in 2024 and 2025.

As illicit trade becomes more advanced, how do governments protect their revenues, citizens, and natural resources?

Two independent studies point to the fact that cigarette smokers in Uruguay still prefer illicit cigarettes.

Interviews with International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA) members in 2023 – common threads and differences; implementing Lebanon’s tobacco authentication and traceability solution. Some of the year's headlines.

Enforcement authorities in Europe have taken down a criminal group operating an intricate cigarette trafficking scheme across several EU countries.

Looking back over the year that was, a number of developments stand out in different areas: namely mergers and acquisitions, the growth in illicit vapes, the integration of tax stamps into wider e-governance programmes, and a greater focus on sustainability in tax stamps. In the meantime, the ongoing rollout of national tobacco track and trace systems under the WHO FCTC Protocol continues at a sluggish pace.

India’s government banknote printer, the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) has reported a 29% growth in its tax stamp division.

According to the latest US Tax Foundation report, ‘Cigarette Taxes and Cigarette Smuggling by State, 2022’, growing cigarette tax levels and price differentials have made cigarette smuggling a persistent, national problem in the United States. But price is not the only culprit, with state bans on flavoured tobacco and nicotine products also driving up levels of cross-state smuggling.

The Malaysian newspaper printer Ultimate Print has entered into a deal with Türkiye’s state printer, Darphane, to establish a high-security printing hub in Malaysia.

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development) has released the 15th edition of ‘Consumption Tax Trends’, a biennial publication presenting comparative data on consumption taxes in OECD member countries. The report highlights the continuing downward trajectory of excise duties as a percentage of total tax revenues in these countries.

A few months ago, the third edition of the Tobacconomics Cigarette Tax Scorecard was published, evaluating the 2022 performance of cigarette tax policies in 170 countries. Unfortunately, the scorecard shows that governments have made insufficient progress, and even regressed, in addressing the world’s leading cause of preventable death, despite unequivocal evidence showing that when countries raise tobacco taxes, consumption declines (Ngo et al, 2023).

Washington, the first state to approve marijuana use recreationally in the US, alongside Colorado, still lacks a system to properly track cannabis from production through processing to retail sale, the Office of the Washington State Auditor confirmed in an audit.

In October, 40 participants turned up for the latest International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA) webinar, which was in Spanish only and directed towards tax and customs authorities across Latin America.