Linking Laser ID Marks with Tax Stamp Codes

At the recent Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum™ in Malta, Dr Marietta Ulrich-Horn, CEO of Securikett, presented a solution for linking the company’s CODIKETT® unique identifying code (UID) on a tax stamp with a 2D barcode that had been laser-etched into a glass bottle.

The solution – known as the Laser ID Mark – was developed together with Bucher Emhart, a leading manufacturer of glass containers.

It consists of a unique, unclonable code (which can be in human-readable or 2D code form – or a combination of both), which is etched into individual bottles during the manufacturing process, while the glass is still hot.

The etched code can then be linked in a database with a CODIKETT UID on a tax stamp affixed to the bottle.

Standardised coding technology is used to generate the codes, which carry information such as production line and date of manufacture. The codes can be read by a barcode reading app on a smartphone.

Whilst the CODIKETT UID on the bottle shows that the tax stamp is valid, it doesn’t show that the bottle itself is. The Laser ID Mark does that. It makes the individual bottle identifiable and also facilitates the resorting of bottles for recycling purposes.

Furthermore, the marrying of the ID Mark with the tax stamp UID in a database ensures the stamp is attached to the item it was originally intended for, and is not being reused on a different bottle.