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Latest News

1,100 articles online

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

Chander S Jeena

29 June 2020

3 min read

The Illicit Tobacco Trade in Southeast Asia – Vietnam

In the February issue of Tax Stamp & Traceability News™, we launched a series of articles by Chander S Jeena on the illicit tobacco trade in Southeast Asia and how it is being dealt with. This month we continue the series with an update on Vietnam.

Countries Excise Products Illicit Trade

Nicola Sudan

29 June 2020

2 min read

Beer Stamp Pilot Launched in Russia

In April, the Moscow Printing Factory of Goznak announced that it had started a pilot project, together with Russia’s Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation, for the application of what it called ‘special’ stamps to beer and low-alcohol beverages.

Excise Products

Michael Eads

29 June 2020

6 min read

How Coronavirus Will Likely Impact the Tax Stamp Industry… Continued

In the April edition of Tax Stamp & Traceability News™ (TSTN) we looked at the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic vis-à-vis the tax stamp industry with a view to anticipating what the implications might be for the industry. This article provides an update of sorts, exploring the same themes in terms of additional data points that may help us to better understand how the industry may be impacted.

Strategies Tax & Revenue

Nicola Sudan

29 June 2020

4 min read

ITSA Hits Back Over Tax Stamp Criticism

The International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA) has responded to criticism of paper-based tax stamps in a new report on the use of blockchain technology for collecting excise duties.

Associations Tax & Revenue Technology & Systems

International Tax Stamp Association

8 April 2020

3 min read

Recruitment Campaign Aims to Stamp Out Fraudulent Trade

An international trade body is on a mission to recruit new members who can help fight the fraudulent trade of tobacco, alcohol and other products.

Associations Free Free

Chander S Jeena

9 Dec. 2019

5 min read

India Needs Comprehensive National Policy to Tackle Alcohol, Declares ASPA

In November, the President of the Authentication Solution Providers Association, Mr Nakul Pasricha, was interviewed by Ambrosia (a magazine for the alcoholic beverages industry) on the impact of illicit trade on India’s alcohol market.

Excise Products Illicit Trade Interviews

Nicola Sudan

9 Dec. 2019

1 min read

SICPA Signs Cooperation Agreement with Kazakh Telecoms Company

During a Kazakh-Swiss roundtable business forum, held on 22 November in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan (and part of the official visit of Swiss President Ueli Maurer to the country), a cooperation agreement was signed between the Swiss company SICPA SA and Transtelecom JSC – one of the leading information and telecom service providers in Kazakhstan.

Companies

Nicola Sudan

9 Dec. 2019

6 min read

Pakistan Tender Award Faces Multiple Legal Challenges in High Court

The Pakistan tender award for a tax stamp, electronic monitoring and track and trace system for tobacco products (announced in last month’s Tax Stamp & Traceability News™), has been challenged in the Islamabad and Karachi high courts, with a number of bidders filing formal complaints with regard to the allegedly spurious manner in which their bids were evaluated.

Tenders

Nicola Sudan

9 Dec. 2019

8 min read

New Tobacco Track and Trace System Bestows ‘Digital Enforcement Powers’ on Chile Revenue Authority

During the recent Tax Stamp Forum™ in Budapest, Victor Villalón, former Head of the Chilean Internal Revenue Service’s Tax Compliance General Department, described the ‘digital enforcement powers’ bestowed on the service, in the shape of a new cigarette tax stamp and traceability programme implemented in March this year.

Case Studies Excise Products Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

9 Dec. 2019

2 min read

SICPA Launches its ‘Brightest Star’

If you ask an astronomer what a ‘quasar’ is, they’ll tell you it’s an extremely bright celestial object emitting an immense amount of energy in the form of, say, light or infrared radiation, from a compact source. Recently, SICPA launched its own ‘brightest star’ – QUAZAR® – which it describes as an optical security technology offering vibrant colours and engaging visible effects that are quick and easy for end users to authenticate, without the need for prior training.

Companies Technology & Systems

Nicola Sudan

9 Dec. 2019

5 min read

Track and Trace Working Group for FCTC Protocol Launches in Panama

This month, in Panama, the first meeting of a working group set up by the parties to the WHO FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products was held, with a focus on the tracking and tracing, global information-sharing focal point and unique ID requirements of the Protocol.

Regulations Track and Trace

Ian Lancaster

30 Nov. 2019

6 min read

Human and/or Digital Interrogation of Tax Stamps

An intriguing and important discussion regarding the relative role of human senses and digital methods in authentication has been sparked by two contrasting presentations at the recent Tax Stamp Forum™. Ian Lancaster, who presented one of those papers, here describes the contrasting presentations and the follow-up discussion.

Editorials Technology & Systems

Nicola Sudan

7 Nov. 2019

4 min read

INCM - Art to Machine Readable Coding

The Portuguese Mint and Official Printing Office, INCM SA, in a presentation by Nuno Gonçalves at the recent Tax Stamp Forum™ in Budapest, described its new coding system, but unlike other such systems, this one, UNIQODE®, is artistically as well as technically innovative. (Patents are pending.)

Companies Technology & Systems

Nicola Sudan

7 Nov. 2019

11 min read

How Countries Around the World Charge Excise Taxes

Excise taxes are levied on the sale and use of certain products and services. They are charged directly from businesses and then the costs are passed on to consumers to some extent, often in an obscure way. Like other taxes based on income and consumption, excise taxes are designed to generate substantial revenue for governments. What is unique about them, however, is that they strategically target specific ‘necessities’ deemed harmful to health and/or the environment.

Tax & Revenue

Telita Snyckers

7 Nov. 2019

6 min read

Tobacco Industry Interference Index – What It Means for Secure Track and Trace

The 2019 Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index has recently been released. The concept is not a new one and borrows from the methodology originally developed by the South East Asia Tobacco Control Alliance to assess the extent to which the tobacco industry was unduly influencing governments in Asia.

Excise Products Reports & Studies

Nicola Sudan

7 Nov. 2019

2 min read

Uganda Launches Tax Stamps on Six Different Products… All In One Go!

Uganda has launched its new tax stamp and traceability programme on six different products: beer, spirits, wine, soda, mineral water and tobacco products.

Tax Stamps Track and Trace

Nicola Sudan

7 Nov. 2019

3 min read

Graphi Mecc’s Serialisation Equipment Offerings

Italian equipment manufacturer Graphi Mecc Group (GMG), based in Verona, has devoted many years since its founding in 1985 to devising the most fool-proof way to produce encoded unique serial numbers, ensuring that sequences are correct, no numbers are skipped or duplicated and the encoding in a variety of formats is accurate.

Companies Technology & Systems Track and Trace

Telita Snyckers

25 Sept. 2019

9 min read

The SARS Tender: Can an Agency in Turmoil be Both Agile and Prudent?

At the recent Tax Stamp Forum™ in Budapest one question that kept coming up was: what is the status of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) tender for a tax stamp or secure marking solution for tobacco products? (The current SARS tender has already been extended twice, with the closing date for submissions now set for 31 October 2019.)

Government Tenders

2 Jan. 2018

1 min read

Holography & Optical Technology News

Holography & Optical Technology News is a comprehensive information source on the development of holographic products, technologies, services and markets for security.

1 Jan. 2018

1 min read

ID & Secure Document News

The global ID market and the trend towards e-ID programmes with systems married to secure documents is dynamic, growing and developing at a rapid pace.

Latest News

The Illicit Tobacco Trade in Southeast Asia – Vietnam

Beer Stamp Pilot Launched in Russia

How Coronavirus Will Likely Impact the Tax Stamp Industry… Continued

ITSA Hits Back Over Tax Stamp Criticism

Recruitment Campaign Aims to Stamp Out Fraudulent Trade

India Needs Comprehensive National Policy to Tackle Alcohol, Declares ASPA

SICPA Signs Cooperation Agreement with Kazakh Telecoms Company

Pakistan Tender Award Faces Multiple Legal Challenges in High Court

New Tobacco Track and Trace System Bestows ‘Digital Enforcement Powers’ on Chile Revenue Authority

SICPA Launches its ‘Brightest Star’

Track and Trace Working Group for FCTC Protocol Launches in Panama

Human and/or Digital Interrogation of Tax Stamps

INCM - Art to Machine Readable Coding

How Countries Around the World Charge Excise Taxes

Tobacco Industry Interference Index – What It Means for Secure Track and Trace

Uganda Launches Tax Stamps on Six Different Products… All In One Go!

Graphi Mecc’s Serialisation Equipment Offerings

The SARS Tender: Can an Agency in Turmoil be Both Agile and Prudent?

Holography & Optical Technology News

ID & Secure Document News

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