Next month, Reconnaissance International will launch the much-awaited third edition of Tax Stamps & Traceability: A Market Analysis and Technical Update – which, since the launch of the first edition back in 2007, has remained the only authoritative report of its kind.
Every year, at least 120 billion tax stamps are used on cigarettes and liquor products in 90 countries, either solely as tools for tax collection or as part of a comprehensive excise goods management programme that includes product authentication and secure track and trace, states the report. But while the number of countries adopting tax stamps continues to rise, the cigarette and spirits tax stamp market from a volume point of view is decreasing, due to the continuing decline of global tobacco consumption, and only a slight increase in spirits consumption.
However, other factors are creating opportunities for new tax stamp markets, including the rising importance of excise taxes and their extension to other products; the creation of brand new markets for tax stamps such as cannabis and vaping; the fact that illicit trade continues to thrive in the global economy; and the fact that by 2023, tobacco products in at least 60 countries across the world will be obliged to implement secure tracking and tracing, in compliance with the WHO FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
These are some of the conclusions from this third report, which examines both the current and future global tax stamp and traceability environment, as well as the environment in specific countries and regions.
The report is divided into 17 chapters grouped into four sections: 1) Landscape, Drivers and Evolution; 2) Implementation and Technologies; 3) Tax Stamps in Practice; and 4) The Road Ahead.
This section covers the following topics and questions:
Why countries choose to adopt tax stamp and traceability systems in the first place, and what is subsequently driving them to extend and upgrade their programmes to cover other products and functionalities. And why there are still 100 countries that don’t use – and in many cases have no intention of using – tax stamps.
How different elements within an anti-illicit trade strategy – including tax stamps, secure track and trace, supply chain licensing and enhanced enforcement – are more or less effective against different kinds of illicit trade.
The vertical and horizontal evolution of tax stamp programmes and the crucial question of why paper-based tax stamps, as opposed to purely digital alternatives, continue to provide the best protection against acts of non-compliance and illicit trade.
Emerging new markets for tax stamps and tax marks – including cannabis and fuel marking.
How the EU Tobacco Products Directive and FCTC Protocol are driving the shape of secure track and trace systems on a global scale, and how tax stamps fit into the picture.
The second section looks at the practical steps involved in analysing, planning, designing, building and implementing modern tax stamp and traceability programmes, as part of a comprehensive tax administration and supply chain control system.
It then takes us through the technologies, components and machinery involved in producing and applying tax stamps, including material components and security features, serialisation methods and secure track and trace systems, and the different tax stamp formats and methods of applying them to the product.
This section can be considered the heart of the new report. It comprises a series of chapters that take a quantitative and qualitative look at systems currently in place across the world.
The section includes a quantitative analysis of current and future cigarette and spirits tax stamp volumes by country and region – as well as globally – based on consumption data obtained from GlobalData. This analysis is then combined with extensive case studies and country descriptions that look at the challenges affecting different parts of the world and what is being done to address those challenges, in terms of types of tax stamps and systems deployed (or soon to be deployed), issuers and producers, and successes and drawbacks.
This final section looks at some of the key questions arising from the report, as well as the impact that trends and drivers identified in the report could have on tax stamps and track and trace systems over the next five or ten years.
Some key questions on most of our lips may include:
Will paper-based tax stamps ever be completely replaced by secure digital tax marks printed directly on the product, or will there always be a place for paper-based tax stamps, sitting alongside digital systems?
How will the WHO FCTC Protocol really affect tax stamp programmes and their inclusion in a global, interoperable system for tobacco tracking and tracing?
What are the common characteristics of tax stamp and traceability systems that have proven successful in increasing tax revenues and reducing illicit trade?
Among many others! The report aims to offer insight into these and other crucial questions, while providing all those with a vested interest in tax stamps with the knowledge needed to move forward with their plans in this burgeoning sector.
Full details of how to purchase the report – which will be available in electronic and printed form – can be found at https://estore.reconnaissance.net/product/tax-stamp-traceability-a-market-analysis-and-technical-update/
