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Latest News

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All Advanced Materials Associations Authentication Brand Protection Case Studies Companies Consumer & Industrial Products Countries Covert & Forensic Security Document Protection Editorials Enforcement & Surveillance Events Excise Products Free Government Illicit Trade Interviews News Overt Security Regulations Reports & Studies Standards Strategies Sustainability Tax & Revenue Tax Stamps Technology & Systems Tenders Track and Trace

Francisco Mandiola

4 Dec. 2024

2 min read

LatAm Tax Authorities Share Updates at ITSA Event

In October, 40 participants turned up for the latest International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA) webinar, which was in Spanish only and directed towards tax and customs authorities across Latin America.

Free Free

Nicola Sudan

4 Dec. 2024

2 min read

Tankers Impounded in Philippines Over Illegal Fuel Transfer

Amid an intensified crackdown against the illegal transfer of fuel in the Philippines, two tankers, carrying 370,000 litres of smuggled fuel worth over PHP 20 million ($343,000), were confiscated by the Philippines Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Navotas City in September. One month later, another tanker was caught in the act of transferring smuggled fuel into four lorries at the Port of Batangas.

Excise Products Illicit Trade

Nicola Sudan

4 Dec. 2024

1 min read

Thailand Launches QR Codes on Cigarette Stamps

The Excise Department of Thailand has launched its ‘QR Cigarette’ system, comprised of tax stamps with unique QR codes and serial numbers. By scanning the code, users can access detailed product information, such as brand, manufacturer, tax payment date, shipping location, and price.

Track and Trace

Chander S Jeena

26 Nov. 2024

4 min read

News In Brief

Uganda’s Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, has urged lawmakers to expedite the passage of the Anticounterfeit Goods and Services (ACG&S) Bill 2023 before the end of the year.

Authentication

Nicola Sudan

25 Nov. 2024

2 min read

New Developments from Digimarc

Digimarc Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed provider of digital watermarking technologies, has announced new developments in two main areas: brand protection and plastics recycling.

Authentication

Chander S Jeena

25 Nov. 2024

4 min read

Industry Consolidation Through Acquisitions in 2024

Throughout 2024, major brands announced acquisitions, signalling industry consolidation and a growing focus on expanding authentication and identity security portfolios. This article examines some of the key acquisitions and highlights how diversification and innovation drive sector growth.

Companies

Chander S Jeena

25 Nov. 2024

4 min read

Japan: The Land of the Rise in Anticounterfeiting

In 2024, Japan captured global attention with its advances in anticounterfeiting. The Land of the Rising Sun, known for blending tradition with technology, is setting global security standards in ensuring that everything from currency to cosmetics remains genuine. This article describes recent developments.

Consumer & Industrial Products

Francis Tuffy

25 Nov. 2024

2 min read

Advanced Fluorescent Nanomaterials Transform Forensic Fingerprint Analysis

Since the late 19th century, fingerprinting has been an indispensable tool for identity verification and forensic investigation. After the initial idea of cataloguing to allow comparisons between prints for purposes of identification was formulated by Sir Francis Galton, fingerprinting became the first biometric measure accepted globally for criminal investigations. This approach provided a standardised method, eventually leading to extensive fingerprint databases used in law enforcement.

Advanced Materials

Nicola Sudan

25 Nov. 2024

2 min read

Combating Deepfakes with Watermarking

Earlier this year, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) was warning that deepfakes – ie. video, audio and image content that seem real but are actually manipulated with AI – had been used to try to influence election results

Free Free

Nicola Sudan

25 Nov. 2024

2 min read

It’s the Year of the Dragon for Crypto-Stamps

The world’s first multilateral crypto-stamp has been issued by postal authorities in Luxembourg, Austria, Netherlands, and Belgium, as a limited edition, marking the fact that these digital-physical collectors’ items are continuing to gain traction.

Consumer & Industrial Products

Francis Tuffy

25 Nov. 2024

2 min read

Janus Metasurfaces: Looking Both Ways at Once

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have developed an innovative metasurface that exhibits distinct optical responses based on the direction of incoming light1. Named after the two-faced Roman god Janus, these metasurfaces can manipulate light differently depending on the direction it comes from. This unique ability could help to authenticate secure communications.

Technology & Systems

Nicola Sudan

25 Nov. 2024

3 min read

Battery Authentication and Traceability – New Developments

Scientists at the John de Laeter Centre, Curtin University, Australia, have developed a technique for ‘fingerprinting’ lithium, a key ingredient in energy storage systems and rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles.

Track and Trace

Chander S Jeena

25 Nov. 2024

1 min read

DNA for Cotton – Blockchain for Soybeans

Haelixa and Italy’s leading fashion retailer OVS have renewed their cotton traceability partnership for a second year. Using Haelixa’s DNA marker technology, cotton grown in Italy is marked at the gin, close to the farm.

Track and Trace

Chander S Jeena

25 Nov. 2024

2 min read

TotalEnergies Implements ValiGate on Lubricants

TotalEnergies Lubrifiants has partnered with SCRIBOS (part of the KURZ group) to implement its ValiGate® Direct Print solution on lubricants.

Document Protection

Nicola Sudan

5 Nov. 2024

1 min read

De La Rue to Exit Tax Stamps as Crane Comes in

Following De La Rue’s announcement, a few months ago, that it was in discussions with several parties interested in acquiring one or both of its businesses – Authentication and Currency – the company has now entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of its Authentication division to Crane NXT, for £300 million.

Companies

Francisco Mandiola

5 Nov. 2024

5 min read

Chile’s Tobacco Traceability System Uncovers Illicit Production in Santiago

Chile’s fiscal traceability system on tobacco products (SITRAF) has been instrumental in allowing the Chilean tax authority, Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) to identify a company that has been illegally manufacturing cigarettes in the country.

Excise Products Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

5 Nov. 2024

2 min read

How Retailers Create Demand for Counterfeit Brands – and what to do about it

According to experts from Brand Monitor, an online and offline market surveillance company, the demand for counterfeits of specific brands is generated not so much by end consumers as by retailers, who tend to piggyback off the marketing campaigns and reputation of brand owners, and then attract consumers with the offer of lower prices.

Illicit Trade

Nicola Sudan

5 Nov. 2024

2 min read

New Tax Stamps for Ukraine – Part of Bigger Digitalisation Picture

The global software engineering company ELEKS has been awarded a tender to develop Ukraine’s ‘e-Excise’ tax stamp and traceability programme for tobacco and alcohol products.

Countries Free Free

Nicola Sudan

5 Nov. 2024

10 min read

15 Years and Counting – Part 4

It was 15 years ago, in July 2009, that the very first Tax Stamp News™ (now called Tax Stamp & Traceability News™) was published. To mark the occasion, we thought it would be interesting to go back in time, to the main news items covered by the newsletter between 2009 and today, and how they have developed over this period.

Editorials

Chander S Jeena

5 Nov. 2024

4 min read

Sustainable and Phygital Innovation Driving Tax Stamps in India

India is the largest market in the world for liquor tax stamps, given that 27 states consume 30-35 billion tax stamps annually. While tax stamps at a global level are mainly used on tobacco products as part of a federal scheme, the situation is different in India, where almost all stamps in circulation are used on alcoholic beverages at the individual state level – and no stamps are used at all on tobacco products.

Technology & Systems

Latest News

LatAm Tax Authorities Share Updates at ITSA Event

Tankers Impounded in Philippines Over Illegal Fuel Transfer

Thailand Launches QR Codes on Cigarette Stamps

News In Brief

New Developments from Digimarc

Industry Consolidation Through Acquisitions in 2024

Japan: The Land of the Rise in Anticounterfeiting

Advanced Fluorescent Nanomaterials Transform Forensic Fingerprint Analysis

Combating Deepfakes with Watermarking

It’s the Year of the Dragon for Crypto-Stamps

Janus Metasurfaces: Looking Both Ways at Once

Battery Authentication and Traceability – New Developments

DNA for Cotton – Blockchain for Soybeans

TotalEnergies Implements ValiGate on Lubricants

De La Rue to Exit Tax Stamps as Crane Comes in

Chile’s Tobacco Traceability System Uncovers Illicit Production in Santiago

How Retailers Create Demand for Counterfeit Brands – and what to do about it

New Tax Stamps for Ukraine – Part of Bigger Digitalisation Picture

15 Years and Counting – Part 4

Sustainable and Phygital Innovation Driving Tax Stamps in India

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