Following its 7th Annual General Meeting, held in April 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa – on the occasion of the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum™ – the International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA) is pleased to announce the appointment of a new chairman, and the re-election of two directors, as it celebrates the 10th anniversary of its founding.

Last month, we spoke to the CEO of Quantum Base, a new International Tax Stamp Association member that brings quantum technology to traditional printing techniques to create virtually uncounterfeitable tax stamps. This month, we’re diving deeper into this technology and exploring how it could revolutionise revenue collection and traceability.

The recent Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum™ (TSTF) has been hailed by some as the best TSTF ever. Yet, the overall number of delegates in attendance (170) was low compared to previous events (over 200). So, why was this 12th edition deemed so successful? Let’s take a look.

During the 2025 Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum™, Francis Tuffy of Reconnaissance International chaired a panel discussion on the role of physical security features in an increasingly digital landscape, where artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing (QC) are coming to the fore.

In March, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) hosted an eight-member delegation from Malawi’s tax authority, for a five- day tax stamp benchmarking visit.

India is currently facing regulatory uncertainty around authentication and traceability regulations. While on one hand it recently amended its Central Goods & Services Tax (CGST) Act to allow for the introduction of tobacco traceability, on the other hand it has rolled back key measures for pharmaceuticals – possibly due to the increasingly widespread copying of genuine QR codes for track and trace onto counterfeit drugs.

This month, we have a new entry in our ongoing interview series revealing the industry insider insights of International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA) members.

Linstrom Marangu, Health Tax Specialist from the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), has confirmed his participation at the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum, which takes place from 7-9 April in Cape Town, South Africa.

The alcohol industry has warned that an increase in South Africa’s excise taxes will drive even more financially pressured consumers towards the already substantial black market.

Bangladesh’s National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan has announced that the NBR is considering introducing QR codes on tobacco tax stamps.

In March, the tobacco industry launched an extensive media campaign, making exaggerated claims about the illegal cigarette trade in Pakistan and advocating for tax reductions. This campaign has been widely publicised, attempting to paint a picture of rampant illicit trade in the cigarette market, allegedly causing significant revenue losses to the government. However, the data and methodologies used to support these claims appear to be misleading, creating an inflated perception of the extent of the problem.

The revised and updated international standard for tax stamps has passed through an important stage in its formal adoption by ISO (International Organization for Standards), advancing from a Working Draft to a Committee Draft. The standard provides guidance and best practice recommendations to revenue authorities, but is also relevant to suppliers as it will help them appreciate the approach of their actual or potential customers.

Linstrom Marangu, Health Tax Specialist from the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), has confirmed his participation at the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum, which takes place from 7-9 April in Cape Town, South Africa.

At the recent High Security Printing™ EMEA conference in Basel, Switzerland, Dr Alexander Brannan from the University of Manchester, and Gary Spinks of Security Fibres UK, presented advances in colour-changing smart materials designed for rapid authentication. This technology addresses key issues in anticounterfeiting by integrating academic research with industrial application.

Oman has announced changes to the implementation timeframe and scope for extending its tax stamp and digital traceability programme to excisable drinks.

Further to our announcement last month of the speakers signed up for this year’s Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum™, from 7-9 April in Cape Town, South Africa, the programme has now been finalised.

Tax stamps have been around since the late 17th century and were originally embossed or impressed on products or documents. Today, they have evolved from simple adhesive labels into sophisticated tools that play a crucial role in revenue protection and tax compliance.

Two cannabis businesses in the Canadian province of Alberta – Token Naturals and Plantlife Cannabis – together with US technology company Metrc, are launching a pilot project in Alberta to improve the transparency and safety of cannabis products.

The American Lung Association (ALA) has called for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to propose and finalise regulations to implement track and trace technology on all tobacco products to prevent illicit trade, including counterfeiting and smuggling activities.

Across the tax stamp and traceability sector, several concurrent technologies are forcing change: digitisation, the impact of AI, and the prospect of quantum computing. There is no doubt that, individually, these technologies offer convenience and efficiency, but should we be concerned about the interplay between them and whether they could lead to a new set of threats?

The authors of the third edition of Tax Stamps & Traceability: A Market Analysis and Technical Update (TSR 3), published by Reconnaissance International in 2020, estimated that there were then ‘about 80 prime contractors for tax stamp programmes around the world’, of which 50 were commercial organisations and 30 state-owned enterprises. Those state-owned entities mainly supplied their own country’s tax stamp requirements, but many were also operating commercially on the open market, albeit primarily supplying regional neighbours.

On 27 February 2025, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) celebrated the 20th anniversary of its entry into force.

The global security print landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, and, in its wake, there are two extremes of skills shortage.

If you only read media reports, it would be easy to assume that the most significant advances in identity document security stem from digital innovation, with biometric verification, blockchain-based identity management, and digital certificates dominating discussions.

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 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!

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

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.

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

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).

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.

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.

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.