Reconnaissance International (publisher of Tax Stamp & Traceability News™ – TSTN) has announced that the 2024 Holography Conference Online (THCO) will be held on 12-13 November. The call for papers is now open, and delegates are invited to submit a proposal to present by 13 September 2024.

In this month’s interview with a member of the International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA), we delve into Thailand’s tax stamp and security printing market courtesy of Chanwanich CEO Ronnachai Kongboonma, exploring how the nation’s industry has developed over the past century and how it’s likely to evolve in the coming years.

Although this article concerns ongoing problems with the counterfeiting of postage stamps, some of these stamps now carry a combination of physical and digital features common to tax stamps. Our industry may therefore be interested in recent developments around the counterfeiting of these ‘new-age’ postage stamps.

The liquor industry in India is a major source of excise revenue that needs protecting against non-compliance and illicit trade. To this end, two decades ago, the Indian state of Kerala introduced hologram- embedded security tax labels on Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL).

Work will soon begin on preparing the programme for the next Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum™, which will take place from 7-9 April 2025, in Cape Town, South Africa.

In our third 2024 interview with a member of the International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA), we speak to Marietta Ulrich- Horn, Co-Founder and CEO of Securikett.

Depending on who you ask, Panama – which recently played host to the COP9 meeting of parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) – is either a best-in- class example of a country using tobacco controls to excellent effect, or the world’s biggest hub for illicit cigarette trade.

While the banknote industry often laments the limited real estate available on a banknote, tax stamps are typically 10 times smaller than notes. Furthermore, most stamps are required to carry variable data as well as multilevel security features adapted to different users with different authentication capabilities.

From 1 June 2024, Kyrgyzstan plans to introduce mandatory marking on all types of fuel products. In particular, it is looking to mark gasoline and diesel fuel – sold exclusively at filling stations – with irremovable molecular markers.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) South-East Asia Region has released a new research report on the illicit trade of tobacco in the region, with the conclusion that illicit levels are ‘generally not alarmingly high in most south-east Asian (SEA) countries’.

During his 2024 national budget speech, in February, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the South African Revenue Service (SARS) was deploying closed-circuit television (CCTV) and related technologies on the premises of licensed tobacco manufacturers, to address the high levels of illicit tobacco.

It’s time to get your agendas out and save the dates for two in-person tax stamp and traceability events.

Some years ago, I was asked to give a speech to a Latin American country’s customs authority with respect to fuel marking. To prepare for my presentation, I spoke to several suppliers and did some research with respect to alternatives and positive results around the world.

The state of Uttarakhand in India has invited bids for full polyester holographic tax stamps to replace paper-based stamps on alcohol products, amid protests that the polyester stamps contravene a country-wide government ban on single- use plastic items below 100 microns in thickness.

Crane NXT, a leading industrial technology company, has signed a definitive agreement with Investcorp Technology Partners to acquire OpSec Security for $270 million in cash, subject to customary adjustments.

Pakistan’s economy is currently going through a crucial period, like many other economies in the world. Along with unprecedented floods and political turmoil, the economy is beset by skyrocketing interest rates and inflation, as well as a decline in imports.

While many tax stamp programmes in operation today are delivering significant benefits (including increased tax collections), other programmes are not so successful. Why is this?

A number of recent developments in tamper proof labels caught our attention, two of which are described in this article.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) South-East Asia Region has released a new research report on the illicit trade of tobacco in the region, with the conclusion that illicit levels are ‘generally not alarmingly high in most South-East Asian (SEA) countries’.

In our second 2024 interview with members of the International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA), we speak to Barna Barabás, Co-Managing Director of JURA, a global brand name in security printing.