Helix-Lock – The Case for Hybrid Tax Stamps

In an era where illicit trade adapts as quickly as enforcement evolves, one question facing revenue authorities is how to secure excise products in a way that balances public recognition, operational efficiency, and long-term resilience.

The Helix-Lock initiative – a collaboration between Luminescence Sun Chemical Security (LSCS), Jura Security Printing and DIAS – sets out a clear proposition: the future of excise protection lies in hybrid tax stamps that combine static and variable elements. At the recent High Security Printing™ EMEA conference, in Rabat, Morocco, Stefaan D’Hoore (LSCS) and Tadej J Turk (Jura) described why this is so.

Stability first: why recognition still matters

A tax stamp is not simply a security label; it is a public instrument of trust. Retailers, consumers and frontline officers must recognise it instantly. If its appearance shifts too frequently, or if verification relies solely on invisible digital checks, that recognition erodes.

On the other hand, stamps that only carry static features are structurally vulnerable to counterfeiting because they create predictability that can be studied, replicated and refined over time by counterfeiters, reducing the barrier to imitation with each successive attempt.