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Filtered by Excise Products — 155 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

Nicola Sudan

31 May 2026

2 min read

Sri Lanka Credits Tax Stamps with 60% Rise in Alcohol Excise Revenue

The Excise Department of Sri Lanka says excise revenue from alcoholic beverages has increased by more than 60% since the introduction of tax stamps on liquor bottles in 2022.

Countries Excise Products Tax Stamps

Aftab Baloch

25 March 2026

3 min read

Sri Lanka’s Excise Control System Leaves Tobacco Behind

Sri Lanka’s approach to excise control tells a story of uneven progress. In the alcohol sector, a combination of secure tax stamps, digital verification tools and emerging system-wide reforms has created a robust framework for revenue protection and market oversight. In contrast, tobacco remains outside this ecosystem, with no equivalent system in place – despite Sri Lanka having ratified the WHO Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. This divergence highlights a significant gap in the country’s otherwise evolving excise control architecture.

Countries Excise Products

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

Sven Bergmann

4 March 2026

6 min read

Illicit Tobacco in 2026: Entrenched, Expanding, and Reshaping Global Markets

The global illicit tobacco trade in 2026 has evolved into a mature and deeply embedded parallel supply chain that operates across continents with industrial manufacturing capacity, established logistics corridors, and retail distribution networks that reach directly into consumer markets. This allows organized criminal groups to manufacture, transport, and sell illicit cigarettes and vape products at scale while avoiding taxation, regulatory compliance, and product safety requirements that legitimate manufacturers must meet.

Excise Products Illicit Trade

Nicola Sudan

2 Feb. 2026

4 min read

News in Brief

Thomas Just Sørensen, a chemist at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, has developed the O-KEY® technology – a kind of digital fingerprint for physical products.

Advanced Materials Brand Protection Companies

Nicola Sudan

2 Feb. 2026

2 min read

It Was Bound to Happen: BAT Pulls Cigarette Production Out of South Africa

It hardly comes as a surprise to learn that British American Tobacco (BAT) – which controls roughly two thirds of South Africa’s legal cigarette market – has decided to close its sole manufacturing plant in the country, as it struggles to operate in a market consumed by illicit trade.

Countries Excise Products Illicit Trade

Linda Desrochers

22 Dec. 2025

4 min read

Canada’s Excise Stamp Journey – From Tobacco to Cannabis to Vapes

This article describes the journey of excise stamps in Canada, including how they have evolved and why they matter.

Case Studies Countries Excise Products

Nicola Sudan

4 Dec. 2025

3 min read

Ghana Extends Tax Stamps to Refined Edible Oils

Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has announced the introduction of a tax stamp regime on refined edible oils, modelled after the stamps used in the beverage industry.

Countries Excise Products Tax Stamps

Nicola Sudan

4 Dec. 2025

2 min read

Parties to FCTC Protocol Adopt Decision on Tobacco Seizure Mapping

The Fourth session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP4) to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products – which took place 24-26 November in Geneva, Switzerland – has concluded with a series of decisions to strengthen measures on international cooperation, including a decision on the mapping of tobacco product seizures.

Events Excise Products Government

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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

29 Sept. 2025

9 min read

Track and Trace Success and Failure Under Scrutiny at ITSA Webinar

At the International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA) webinar held on 24 September – with 24 revenue/customs authorities in attendance – guest speaker Dr Hana Ross from the University of Cape Town and Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies examined the prerequisites for achieving track and trace success on excisable products, referring to real-world cases of successful and failed systems.

Associations Case Studies Excise Products

Sven Bergmann

29 Sept. 2025

9 min read

The Overlooked Threat: Illicit Tobacco as a Global Public Policy Challenge

Illicit trade in tobacco and vapor products has become a critical challenge facing policymakers, regulators, revenue authorities, and law enforcement. Once seen as a secondary issue compared to narcotics or counterfeit pharmaceuticals, illicit tobacco is now a clear and present threat for many countries across the globe.

Countries Excise Products Free Free

Nicola Sudan

29 Sept. 2025

2 min read

Chad Hosts Technical Experts from WHO FCTC Secretariat

In September, technical experts from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Secretariat engaged with Chad government officials, parliamentarians, civil society organisations and other national stakeholders in a joint needs assessment to support the country’s implementation of the FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, which it has been party to since 2018.

Countries Excise Products Government

Nicola Sudan

29 Sept. 2025

1 min read

Car Crash Exposes One Million Cigarettes Without Tax Stamps

A Lithuanian man has been arrested for trying to smuggle more than one million cigarettes into Poland after a road accident exposed the contraband concealed in his van.

Excise Products Illicit Trade

Francisco Mandiola

15 Sept. 2025

4 min read

Time for Improved Fuel Traceability in Brazil?

Brazil’s federal police recently pulled back the curtain on a criminal web that had infiltrated the country’s fuel distribution chains. While organised crime in Brazil has been expanding, for some time now, from drug and arms trafficking into biofuel and fossil fuels, the government is yet to take the lead on implementing a nationwide modern fuel traceability system.

Excise Products

Nicola Sudan

2 Sept. 2025

2 min read

Smurfit Appointed ID Issuer for Tobacco Traceability in Ireland

Smurfit Westrock Security Concepts (SWSC), the Irish high-security printing and identity management solutions provider, has been awarded a contract by Revenue Commissioners (Revenue), Ireland, to provide 110-150 million unique identification codes per year for all tobacco related products imported and sold in the country.

Companies Excise Products Regulations

Nicola Sudan

2 Sept. 2025

2 min read

Kenya Reports Progress Against Fuel Adulteration

Kenya’s Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) is making progress in safeguarding fuel integrity through a technology- driven strategy, according to local news site Citizen Digital.

Excise Products

Ian Lancaster

2 Sept. 2025

8 min read

The UK’s Illicit Cigarette Trade

In the June 2025 issue of Tax Stamp & Traceability News™, we reported that KPMG had released its ‘Illicit Cigarette Consumption in Europe’ report for 2024, commissioned by Philip Morris. Prompted by a later in-depth report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on the illicit cigarette trade in Hull, a port city on England’s North Sea coast, this article examines the situation in the UK as a whole.

Countries Excise Products Illicit Trade

Nicola Sudan

2 Sept. 2025

4 min read

EU Faces Backlash Over Tobacco Tax Reforms

Portugal has become the latest EU member state to officially oppose the European Commission’s proposed reforms to the Tobacco Excise Tax Directive (TED) – especially the one calling for a sharp increase in minimum tax rates. According to Portugal, this will drive consumers to the illicit market, reports The European Business Review.

Excise Products Regulations Tax & Revenue

Latest News

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

Sri Lanka Credits Tax Stamps with 60% Rise in Alcohol Excise Revenue

Sri Lanka’s Excise Control System Leaves Tobacco Behind

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

Illicit Tobacco in 2026: Entrenched, Expanding, and Reshaping Global Markets

News in Brief

It Was Bound to Happen: BAT Pulls Cigarette Production Out of South Africa

Canada’s Excise Stamp Journey – From Tobacco to Cannabis to Vapes

Ghana Extends Tax Stamps to Refined Edible Oils

Parties to FCTC Protocol Adopt Decision on Tobacco Seizure Mapping

EU Tobacco Traceability – Six Years On and Still No Evaluation

Track and Trace Success and Failure Under Scrutiny at ITSA Webinar

The Overlooked Threat: Illicit Tobacco as a Global Public Policy Challenge

Chad Hosts Technical Experts from WHO FCTC Secretariat

Car Crash Exposes One Million Cigarettes Without Tax Stamps

Time for Improved Fuel Traceability in Brazil?

Smurfit Appointed ID Issuer for Tobacco Traceability in Ireland

Kenya Reports Progress Against Fuel Adulteration

The UK’s Illicit Cigarette Trade

EU Faces Backlash Over Tobacco Tax Reforms

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