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.

The international standard ISO 22382:2018, which was published in October 2018 as a guidance for tax stamp issuers on best practice in the design, sourcing, issuance, and monitoring of tax stamps, is due for review in 2023.

While direct marking could be considered as an opportunity for traceability solutions, it could also be viewed as a threat to physical tax stamps.

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.

While the principal method of applying unique identifiers and other variable information to a tax or authentication label is via digital printing, some labels carry that information in a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.

The South African case study on dealing with illicit tobacco continues to be an interesting one to follow.

Despite great efforts at a global level, illicit trade has grown into a pandemic, and India is no exception.

In a press statement marking the fifth anniversary of the introduction of excise tax in the United Arab Emirates, the country’s Federal Tax Authority hailed its implementation as an all-round success.

The ability to link a physical object such as a stamp, label, or direct mark into the digital space, through mobile devices such as a smartphone, is an area of great current interest. A key question to consider is how this physical/digital link may change so we can ensure our technologies keep pace with these changes.

SICPA has finalised the roll-out of its SICPATRACE® platform in the US state of Michigan, under a new five-year contract with the Department of Treasury.

Sri Lanka’s Commissioner General of Excise, M J Gunasiri, has announced that excise revenues from arrack and other alcoholic beverages have plummeted by 40%.

There are two conferences coming up soon which show just how important optical security features still are for authenticating documents such as banknotes, ID, and tax stamps.

SICPA and nanotechnology company UbiQD have announced an expansion of their partnership to develop security inks based on the latter’s quantum dot technology.

Several large-scale seizures over the course of this year have shown that a concerning development, identified during Europol’s Serious and Criminal Organized Crime Assessment 2021 (SOCTA-21), has unfortunately not abated.

In late August 2022, a series of enforcement actions by California’s Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) pushed the amount of illegal cannabis seized passed the $1 billion mark.

De La Rue has appointed David Sharratt as Managing Director of its Authentication division, replacing Andrew Clint, who has resigned to pursue other opportunities, after three years leading the division – and over 13 years with the company.

The ability to link a physical object such as a stamp, label, or direct mark to the digital space, through devices such as a smartphone is a persuasive and growing field.

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.

Although secure track and trace systems are considered one of the most effective measures for reducing illicit trade, some governments are reluctant to implement them because of concerns about their cost.

For over 17 years, Pakistan’s revenue authority, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), has been in the crosshairs of providers of tax stamp and track and trace systems for excise products prone to revenue leakage.