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Nicola Sudan

4 March 2021

4 min read

UCT Tobacco Taxation E-Library a World First

A comprehensive new e-library focusing on tobacco taxation and illicit trade has been launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Knowledge Hub at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products (REEP). A project two-and-a-half-years in the making, it is set to be a valuable resource for students, researchers and policymakers across the globe.

Excise Products Reports & Studies

Michael Eads

24 Feb. 2021

7 min read

What Does the Future Hold for Traceability in Europe?

The European Union represents the world’s first attempt at implementation of wide-scale, multi-country tobacco traceability and the largest iteration of the FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (the Protocol) in action. The implications in relation to one of the world’s largest tobacco market’s interpretation and implementation of the Protocol, as well as the benefits that traceability can provide in terms of combatting illicit trade, has the significant potential to influence tobacco traceability the world over.

Excise Products Free Illicit Trade Free

Nicola Sudan

11 Feb. 2021

5 min read

The Global Use of Tax Stamps – Middle East

In last month’s Tax Stamp & Traceability News™, we launched a new series on the use of tax stamps and associated track and trace systems in different regions of the world, starting with Africa. This month, we shift the focus to the Middle East.

Case Studies Countries Reports & Studies

Alan Hodgson

4 Feb. 2021

5 min read

Drivers for Smart Packaging

Smart packaging is an area that is pertinent to the interests of our community. It has links to track and trace, product labelling and interaction with the brand through technology. The aim of this article is to take a wider look at trends in smart packaging and consider some of the potential implications for tax stamps and track and trace solutions.

Authentication Technology & Systems Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

28 Jan. 2021

3 min read

Delhi Releases High-Security Liquor Labels for Track and Trace

Remember when we wrote a while back in Tax Stamp & Traceability News™ about the very plain, unsecured, serialised barcode label that had been introduced in Delhi, India to track and trace spirits, wine and beer products between distillery and final retailer (TSN January 2016)?

Excise Products Track and Trace

Alan Hodgson

27 Jan. 2021

6 min read

A Post-COVID Vision, by Dr Alan Hodgson

The time has now come for us to be considering the changes that the current pandemic will make to our industry. The purpose of this article is to look at the reshaping of one particular technology with the intention of prompting a similar appraisal of others. It is does not attempt to identify all the solutions but to at least propose a framework for the questions.

Free Technology & Systems Free

Nicola Sudan

27 Jan. 2021

2 min read

Liberia Begins Month-Long Workshop on Tax Stamp Implementation

At the beginning of January, the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), began a month-long training workshop on the procedures and processes leading to the implementation of excise tax stamps on several products sold on the Liberian market, reports LRA on its Facebook page.

Countries Tax Stamps

Nicola Sudan

27 Jan. 2021

3 min read

Authenticating Whisky Without Touching a Drop

The Gaelic word ‘whisky’ can roughly be translated into English as ‘water’ and so it comes as no surprise that sales of the golden liquid are worth roughly £5 billion annually to Scotland’s economy. As with many premium products, whisky is a favourite target for counterfeiters, which not only takes income away from the legitimate brand owner but deprives revenue authorities of much needed taxes.

Authentication Excise Products Technology & Systems

Nicola Sudan

27 Jan. 2021

2 min read

Cannabis Global Integrates Metrc API into Transport System

Cannabis Global, Inc, a provider of what it calls disruptive cannabis and hemp-related technologies, has announced an enhancement to its Comply Bag™ Cannabis Transport System, in the shape of a fully integrated application that will allow shippers and receivers to track, monitor and confirm important aspects of cannabis shipments.

Excise Products Technology & Systems

Nicola Sudan

21 Jan. 2021

5 min read

New Study Examines Evolving Challenges Posed by Counterfeit and Illicit Trade

A new study focusing on the trends and challenges of counterfeit and illicit trade in the high-tech sector – as well as the technologies for combatting such trade – provides interesting insights that are of relevance to other industries, including excise products.

Illicit Trade Reports & Studies

Nicola Sudan

9 Jan. 2021

5 min read

UK Considers Tougher Sanctions Against Illicit Tobacco as it Prepares to Leave EU

The UK tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), has unveiled proposals for tougher sanctions against small-scale sellers of illicit tobacco, while at the same time putting in place its post-Brexit tobacco supply chain control measures.

Countries Excise Products Illicit Trade

Nicola Sudan

8 Jan. 2021

11 min read

The Global Use of Tax Stamps – Africa

We kick off 2021 with a new series on the use of tax stamps and their associated track and trace systems in different regions of the world – starting with Africa. The series provides a summary of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of tax stamp usage, together with country profiles, which formed a significant part of Reconnaissance’s recently released report ‘Tax Stamps & Traceability: A Market Analysis and Technical Update’.

Case Studies Countries Reports & Studies

Nicola Sudan

23 Dec. 2020

2 min read

Pakistan Tender – Here We Go Again!

The Pakistan Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has held a pre-bidding conference for granting a five-year licence for what it describes in a public announcement as an ‘IT-based Solution for Electronic Monitoring (Track and Trace System) for Tobacco Products, Sugar, Fertiliser and Cement’.

Tenders

Francisco Mandiola

23 Dec. 2020

6 min read

ITSA Webinar Draws Large Crowd of Latam Revenue Authorities

It may not have been like the in-person seminars we’re all accustomed to, or yearning for, but we were very happy to report that the International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA) webinar for the Latin American region, held on 3 December under the title ‘Illicit Tobacco during Lockdown: Controlling Tobacco in a COVID-19 Context’, drew close to 150 registrants from all over the Spanish-speaking world.

Associations Events Free Free

Nicola Sudan

23 Dec. 2020

5 min read

Headlines of 2020

A review of this year's headlines.

Editorials

Ian Lancaster

23 Dec. 2020

8 min read

Tax Stamps & Traceability: A Market Analysis and Technical Update

A review by Ian Lancaster, project leader for ISO 22382 tax stamp guidance standard.

Free Reports & Studies Free

Nicola Sudan

17 Dec. 2020

6 min read

2020 – A Tumultuous Year in Review

Phew! What a year 2020 was! A year which had a profound, and mostly adverse effect on almost all countries and industry sectors – including those sectors concerned with excise administration and controlling the illicit trade of excise products.

Editorials

Nicola Sudan

10 Dec. 2020

1 min read

Change of Date for Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum

The COVID-19 pandemic is still very much with us and as we head towards the end of 2020, the world remains mired in uncertainty and various degrees of lockdown – albeit with a light at the end of tunnel in the shape of a viable vaccine.

Events

Sven Bergmann

10 Dec. 2020

3 min read

The Next Frontier in Cannabis Track & Trace

On 3 November, voters in the United States sent a clear message to policy makers and legislators alike. Those in four states – Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota – approved statewide ballot measures to legalise marijuana for personal use. In addition, voters in Mississippi and South Dakota approved statewide ballot measures to legalise marijuana for medical use.

Excise Products Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

10 Dec. 2020

2 min read

YPB Group Secures Partner to Access Thailand’s Tax Stamp Market

Product authentication and consumer engagement solutions provider YPB Group (which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange) has signed a master service agreement (MSA) with a new channel partner, Specific Products, in Thailand, in order to access the high-volume tobacco and tax stamp industries in that country, according to reports in various financial media.

Authentication Companies

Latest News

UCT Tobacco Taxation E-Library a World First

What Does the Future Hold for Traceability in Europe?

The Global Use of Tax Stamps – Middle East

Drivers for Smart Packaging

Delhi Releases High-Security Liquor Labels for Track and Trace

A Post-COVID Vision, by Dr Alan Hodgson

Liberia Begins Month-Long Workshop on Tax Stamp Implementation

Authenticating Whisky Without Touching a Drop

Cannabis Global Integrates Metrc API into Transport System

New Study Examines Evolving Challenges Posed by Counterfeit and Illicit Trade

UK Considers Tougher Sanctions Against Illicit Tobacco as it Prepares to Leave EU

The Global Use of Tax Stamps – Africa

Pakistan Tender – Here We Go Again!

ITSA Webinar Draws Large Crowd of Latam Revenue Authorities

Headlines of 2020

Tax Stamps & Traceability: A Market Analysis and Technical Update

2020 – A Tumultuous Year in Review

Change of Date for Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum

The Next Frontier in Cannabis Track & Trace

YPB Group Secures Partner to Access Thailand’s Tax Stamp Market

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