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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

Chander S Jeena

4 Dec. 2025

5 min read

Nepal Moves Toward Self-Reliant Security Printing After Long Procurement Hurdles

Nepal’s experience with tax stamps has never been a straightforward one, even though it has been relying on tax stamps for over two decades now to generate revenue from alcohol and tobacco. Indeed, these small pieces of paper serve a vital purpose, helping the country to collect nearly NPR 102 billion ($715 million) in excise duty from tobacco, beer, and liquor.

Countries Tax Stamps

Francisco Mandiola

4 Dec. 2025

4 min read

Tax Stamps and New Government Administrations in Latin America: Reshaping Fiscal Traceability?

Latin America is currently passing through a dense electoral cycle, with Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Honduras, Costa Rica and Peru undergoing government transitions this year and into early 2026 (there’s also Haiti, with expected elections in 2025/26, although security and logistical issues make these unlikely).

Government Tax & Revenue

Chander S Jeena

4 Dec. 2025

3 min read

A New Player in Tax Stamps? TOPPAN Explores Tax Stamp Opportunities as Global Expansion Continues

Japan-based TOPPAN Holdings, known for its activities in printing, packaging, and optical security, is broadening its international presence through acquisitions, innovation, and new partnerships. Recent developments indicate that the company is positioning itself to engage more actively in tax stamp and excise management systems, including in Ethiopia, where it is already involved in secure document production.

Companies Tax Stamps

Nicola Sudan

4 Dec. 2025

3 min read

SMX – Turning Raw Materials into Self-Authenticating Assets

SMX, a NASDAQ-listed provider of molecular marking and verification platforms, has acquired $111.5 million in funding to support the global rollout of its marking technology for embedding into raw materials across multiple industries – at a scale never seen before (it claims).

Companies Consumer & Industrial Products Covert & Forensic Security

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

4 Dec. 2025

2 min read

Will e-Invoicing and Enhanced Stamps Finally Close Malawi’s Tax Gap?

According to local press, Malawi is preparing for a major change in the way it records and collects taxes, as the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) moves forward with the rollout of its Electronic Invoicing System (EIS) in February 2026. This, combined with recently introduced digital excise stamps (known as ‘Kalondola’) offer a potential turning point for revenue management and transparency.

Countries Tax & Revenue Tax Stamps

Chander S Jeena

4 Dec. 2025

2 min read

Messi Deal Renewed as Icons Launches TripleLock with Crane

The Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi has renewed his exclusive memorabilia contract with the company Icons, which is rolling out its TripleLock™ anti-forgery system, developed in partnership with Crane Authentication.

Authentication Brand Protection

4 Dec. 2025

2 min read

2.3% of World Trade is ‘Fake’, New Report Estimates

A new study by the OECD and EU Intellectual Property Office has found that, in 2021, the global trade in counterfeit goods was valued at approximately $467 billion, accounting for 2.3% of total global imports.

Illicit Trade Reports & Studies

Nicola Sudan

25 Nov. 2025

2 min read

Weaving Barcodes into the Fabric of Clothing

A startup from the University of Michigan in the US, Fibarcode, is developing a technology to weave barcodes into fabrics that could help make clothing and other textiles more recyclable and harder to counterfeit.

Consumer & Industrial Products Free Free

Nicola Sudan

25 Nov. 2025

2 min read

Australian Retailers Stop Selling Cigarettes Amid Illicit Boom

Australia’s largest independently licensed supermarket group, Ritchies, has begun phasing out the sale of tobacco products at its liquor stores – with supermarkets maybe next in line.

Illicit Trade

Nicola Sudan

30 Oct. 2025

3 min read

Welcome to TSAN!

Welcome to your first issue of Tax Stamp & Authentication News™ (TSAN). This 12-page monthly newsletter merges Reconnaissance’s previous newsletters Authentication & Brand News™ and Tax Stamp & Traceability News™ into a single publication that reflects the convergence of markets, technologies, and policies related to revenue mobilisation, brand protection and product traceability.

Editorials Free Free

Nicola Sudan

30 Oct. 2025

2 min read

IFA Celtics is First Mexican Pharma Company to Adopt NFC

IFA Celtics, a leading Mexican pharmaceutical manufacturer, has partnered with ForgeStop, a connected-product technology company, to launch NFC-enabled smart packaging. The packaging will allow patients, pharmacists, and regulators to instantly authenticate IFA Celtics medicines by smartphone, with no special app required.

Brand Protection Technology & Systems

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

2 min read

One Device to Authenticate Multiple Brands

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has formalised a partnership with the Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement (AGMA) – a nonprofit coalition of technology companies, distributors, and service providers. Under the partnership, AGMA will provide CBP officers nationwide with the ‘One Device’ platform for authenticating multiple brands or product lines.

Strategies Technology & Systems

Nicola Sudan

30 Oct. 2025

2 min read

‘Self-Healing’ Thermochromic Ink

While thermochromic ink is often used as an anticounterfeiting tool for applications such as tax stamps, many security printing and brand protection firms consider the ink to provide a weaker level of protection compared to more advanced technologies, in large part because it is widely available to any printer.

Advanced Materials

Nicola Sudan

30 Oct. 2025

1 min read

SICPA Launches Digital Market Intelligence Module in Malaysia

SICPA has officially introduced its Digital Market Intelligence (DMI) module in Malaysia following the module’s global launch.

Enforcement & Surveillance Technology & Systems

Nicola Sudan

30 Oct. 2025

3 min read

Optical Technology Award Winners – OLED Displays and Warm Labels

The International Optical Technologies Association recently announced the winners of its inaugural Excellence in Optical Technologies Awards, during a ceremony at the Optical & Digital Document Security™ conference in Warsaw, Poland.

Advanced Materials Overt Security

Nicola Sudan

30 Oct. 2025

2 min read

Koenig & Bauer and Schwarz Druck Launch ‘Protected at Print’ Initiative

Koenig & Bauer Vision & Protection has announced a strategic partnership with security printing company Schwarz Druck for the launch of its ‘protected at print’ initiative – an important step towards integrating smartphone-readable authentication into the design of secure documents, before printing.

Companies Strategies Technology & Systems

Nicola Sudan

30 Oct. 2025

4 min read

AURORA: Bosch and ANY’s Integrated Approach to Document Security

At the Optical & Digital Document Security™ conference in September, Adrian Monostori of ANY Security Printing and Oliver Steinbis of Bosch Secure Authentication (BSA) presented AURORA, a jointly developed application of Bosch’s Origify system. The aim of the application is to bring an additional layer of protection to tax stamps in the form of a multilayered QR code.

Companies Strategies Technology & Systems

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

Latest News

Nepal Moves Toward Self-Reliant Security Printing After Long Procurement Hurdles

Tax Stamps and New Government Administrations in Latin America: Reshaping Fiscal Traceability?

A New Player in Tax Stamps? TOPPAN Explores Tax Stamp Opportunities as Global Expansion Continues

SMX – Turning Raw Materials into Self-Authenticating Assets

EU Tobacco Traceability – Six Years On and Still No Evaluation

Will e-Invoicing and Enhanced Stamps Finally Close Malawi’s Tax Gap?

Messi Deal Renewed as Icons Launches TripleLock with Crane

2.3% of World Trade is ‘Fake’, New Report Estimates

Weaving Barcodes into the Fabric of Clothing

Australian Retailers Stop Selling Cigarettes Amid Illicit Boom

Welcome to TSAN!

IFA Celtics is First Mexican Pharma Company to Adopt NFC

Septillion Secures Funding for Electronics Traceability

One Device to Authenticate Multiple Brands

‘Self-Healing’ Thermochromic Ink

SICPA Launches Digital Market Intelligence Module in Malaysia

Optical Technology Award Winners – OLED Displays and Warm Labels

Koenig & Bauer and Schwarz Druck Launch ‘Protected at Print’ Initiative

AURORA: Bosch and ANY’s Integrated Approach to Document Security

Tracing Tobacco Back to its Roots

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