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Filtered by Track and Trace — 103 articles

Nicola Sudan

31 May 2026

3 min read

South Africa Revives National Track and Trace Plans to Tackle Illicit Trade

Six years after its first serious attempt to introduce a tobacco track and trace system, South Africa is once again signalling its intention to implement track and trace, this time under the leadership of the National Consumer Commission (NCC) and as part of a broader strategy to combat illicit trade across multiple sectors.

Countries Excise Products Track and Trace

Aftab Baloch

31 May 2026

5 min read

Cargo Tracking System: Pakistan’s Digital Offensive Against Smuggling and Tax Evasion

Pakistan is undertaking one of the most significant trade-monitoring reforms in its history with the introduction of a nationwide cargo tracking system (CTS). The initiative is designed to replace the country’s paper-based transport documentation with a fully digital platform capable of monitoring the movement of goods from origin to destination in near real time.

Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

20 April 2026

2 min read

Are Oracle or Salesforce Preparing to Enter Cannabis Track and Trace?

According to an MJBizDaily article, the US state of Missouri is looking to replace its current cannabis track and trace provider, Metrc, with another provider, now that the state contract is up for renewal.

Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

20 April 2026

4 min read

Gold Traceability – Bringing Control to a Fragmented Supply Chain

The announcement that SICPA is working with the Kyrgyz State Tax Service to implement a gold traceability system underscores a broader shift: governments are beginning to apply a new level of rigour to the management of mineral supply chains.

Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

20 April 2026

3 min read

Sugar ‘Fingerprints’ Offer New Route to Seafood Authentication

The global seafood market continues to grapple with persistent mislabelling and substitution, exposing consumers to health risks while undermining trust and sustainability efforts. Against this backdrop, new research from Singapore points to an emerging authentication approach based not on DNA, but on the structural signatures of naturally occurring sugars.

Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

25 March 2026

5 min read

Unlocking Africa’s $64 Billion Excise Revenue Opportunity

This article provides a summary of the chapter ‘The Growing Potential of Excise Taxation as a Source of Domestic Revenue Mobilisation in the Context of the African Continental Free Trade Area’, recently published in the European Yearbook of International Economic Law.

Tax & Revenue Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

25 March 2026

3 min read

From Hallmarks to Hybrid Authentication

For centuries, hallmarking has served a simple but powerful purpose: to assure buyers that a precious metal item is exactly what it claims to be. In Portugal, that responsibility sits with Imprensa Nacional – Casa da Moeda (INCM), whose Contrastaria assay offices continue to apply official marks to gold, silver, platinum and palladium articles.

Authentication Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

25 March 2026

5 min read

How Variable Identifiers on Tax Stamps Have Evolved from Stamp Control to Product Identity

At first glance, the small variable code printed on a tax stamp or excise label may appear to serve a single purpose: identifying the stamp. In reality, however, these codes have evolved into one of the most powerful tools available to governments for controlling excisable goods. Depending on how a system is designed, the same printed code can perform roles ranging from simple stamp inventory management to full production monitoring and supply chain traceability.

Tax Stamps Track and Trace

Francisco Mandiola

25 March 2026

4 min read

From Birth to Steak – The Fascinating World of Bovine Traceability

Traceability in the cattle sector, once limited to basic ear tags for visual identification, has evolved into fully integrated birth-to-beef traceability systems, marking a profound transformation in global agri-food governance. However, the effectiveness of traceability systems is ultimately defined by financial implications and producer needs.

Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

4 March 2026

4 min read

News In Brief

RxERP, a cloud-hosted, pharmaceutical-first ERP platform, and p-Chip Corp, a provider of light-activated microtransponder tags and software for secure digital identity, have entered into a licensing agreement to integrate p-Chip’s embedded identity technology into the RxERP platform.

Authentication Covert & Forensic Security News

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Nicola Sudan

4 March 2026

3 min read

What Does Cannabis ‘Pharma Shift’ Mean for US Traceability Systems?

On 18 December 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing the US Attorney General to expedite the reclassification of marijuana from a Schedule I drug (high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use) to a Schedule III drug (moderate potential for abuse and acknowledged as having medical use).

Excise Products Regulations Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

4 March 2026

5 min read

Production Monitoring in Pakistan – From Cigarettes to Day-Old Chicks!

Although Pakistan is still grappling with the nationwide rollout and effective enforcement of its tax stamp and production monitoring system – introduced in 2021 on tobacco products, sugar, cement and fertiliser – the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has now turned its attention to extending a similar system to other sectors at high risk of tax evasion – including tiles, tyres, iron and steel, cotton bales, beverages... and day-old chicks!

Countries Strategies Track and Trace

Ian Lancaster

22 Dec. 2025

3 min read

iTRACE’s Secure Alternative to QR Codes

As QR codes become increasingly ubiquitous – and are now specified in high-impact initiatives such as the EU Digital Product Passport (DPP) and GS1’s Sunrise 2027 programme to replace 1D barcodes with 2D codes – it is important to underline that, by design, QR codes offer no inherent security in their most common form as a printed symbol on packaging or other substrates.

Companies Track and Trace

Francisco Mandiola

22 Dec. 2025

4 min read

From Medicines to Fuel: Traceability Tightens State Oversight in Argentina and Mexico

Despite the markedly different political profiles and public images of their respective presidential administrations, both Argentina and Mexico have embraced traceability systems as tools to strengthen control over products that are, quite literally, honey for illicit-trade bees.

Countries Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

4 Dec. 2025

3 min read

EU Tobacco Traceability – Six Years On and Still No Evaluation

In a recent blog post at bmj.com, Luk Joossens, Senior Advisor, and Erin Roman, Policy and Communications Manager at Smoke Free Partnership, shared their concerns that the tobacco traceability system implemented across the EU in 2019, as part of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) has yet to be officially evaluated in terms of its effectiveness in combating illicit trade. In fact, different sources have claimed illicit trade in Europe to be on the rise rather than decreasing.

Excise Products Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

30 Oct. 2025

2 min read

Septillion Secures Funding for Electronics Traceability

Septillion Technologies, based in Scotland, has secured funding from Scottish Enterprise – the country’s economic development agency – to advance blockchain-enabled traceability in the electronics manufacturing industry.

Consumer & Industrial Products Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

30 Oct. 2025

5 min read

Tracing Tobacco Back to its Roots

A recent scientific review by researchers in China sheds new light on how cutting-edge science can be used to fight the global illicit tobacco trade. The study, carried out by teams at the China National Tobacco Quality Supervision and Test Centre, the Beijing Life Science Academy, and the Key Laboratory of Information Traceability for Agricultural Products at the Ministry of Agriculture, explores how chemical, mineral, and isotopic ‘fingerprinting’ techniques can identify the true geographical origin of tobacco.

Reports & Studies Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

30 Oct. 2025

3 min read

Brands Drive NFC – But Regulators Drive Barcodes

As demonstrated by IFA Celtics’ recent launch of NFC labels on pharma products, the brand-specific deployments of NFC tags for product authentication and traceability are on the rise. Nevertheless, 2D barcodes continue to reign supreme in pharma, excise, and most regulated supply chains – because they are required by law.

Government Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

30 Oct. 2025

2 min read

Pakistan Floats Tender for Tile Traceability – Only to Cancel it a Few Weeks Later

Following the implementation of tax stamps and production monitoring on tobacco products, sugar, fertiliser and cement, Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has now turned its attention to another large-scale manufacturing sector: tiles.

Tax Stamps Tenders Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

30 Oct. 2025

2 min read

South Africa Launches Plan to Combat Falsified and Substandard Medicines

In September, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) released its Traceability Guideline Implementation Roadmap to accompany a broader national action plan to combat falsified and substandard (SF) medicines. The guideline aims to enhance supply chain transparency and regulatory oversight through unique product identification across the health sector.

Regulations Track and Trace

Latest News

South Africa Revives National Track and Trace Plans to Tackle Illicit Trade

Cargo Tracking System: Pakistan’s Digital Offensive Against Smuggling and Tax Evasion

Are Oracle or Salesforce Preparing to Enter Cannabis Track and Trace?

Gold Traceability – Bringing Control to a Fragmented Supply Chain

Sugar ‘Fingerprints’ Offer New Route to Seafood Authentication

Unlocking Africa’s $64 Billion Excise Revenue Opportunity

From Hallmarks to Hybrid Authentication

How Variable Identifiers on Tax Stamps Have Evolved from Stamp Control to Product Identity

From Birth to Steak – The Fascinating World of Bovine Traceability

News In Brief

What Does Cannabis ‘Pharma Shift’ Mean for US Traceability Systems?

Production Monitoring in Pakistan – From Cigarettes to Day-Old Chicks!

iTRACE’s Secure Alternative to QR Codes

From Medicines to Fuel: Traceability Tightens State Oversight in Argentina and Mexico

EU Tobacco Traceability – Six Years On and Still No Evaluation

Septillion Secures Funding for Electronics Traceability

Tracing Tobacco Back to its Roots

Brands Drive NFC – But Regulators Drive Barcodes

Pakistan Floats Tender for Tile Traceability – Only to Cancel it a Few Weeks Later

South Africa Launches Plan to Combat Falsified and Substandard Medicines

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