About the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum
Excise duty on tobacco, spirits, wine, beer and other excisable goods is an important source of revenue for governments. This income is, however, under threat from the illicit trade in all these goods – whether in the form of contraband, counterfeiting or tax evasion.
Governments, which are losing billions each year in lost revenues, can protect themselves and this valuable source of revenue by deploying tax stamps as a vehicle for tax collection and proof of payment. And the same vehicle, in providing proof of authenticity and secure track and trace, also protects the interests of other stakeholders, including economic operators, consumers and public health bodies.
The objective of the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum is to bring together government excise and customs agencies, investigators and law enforcement, regulators, cigarette, alcohol and other excisable product manufacturers and distributors, security printers, supply chain specialists and integrators, suppliers of authentication and serialisation technologies, and systems integrators – to hear about and discuss the latest developments in tax stamp and traceability systems and learn from one another about requirements, best practice and potential solutions.
Topics Covered Typically Include:
- The problems of illicit trade and its devastating impact
- National and international initiatives to provide solutions combining technology, policing and effective enforcement
- Case studies demonstrating the successful implementation of tax stamp and traceability programmes
- Practical technology-based countermeasures to aid authentication, fiscal verification and supply chain security
2022 in Numbers
Attendees
Countries
Organisations
Who Should Attend the Forum?
- Revenue agencies and issuing authorities
- Customs and excise officials
- Law enforcement agencies
- Investigative services
- Tobacco and alcohol regulators
- Anti-counterfeiting and IP organisations
- Manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers of tobacco, alcohol and other excisable products
- Tax stamp and track and trace system and equipment manufacturers
- Security printers and integrators
- Labelling companies and packaging converters
- Suppliers of security substrates, authentication and serialisation technologies
- Data management specialists and systems integrators
Programme
Sunday 1 October 2023
18:30 Welcome Reception – sponsored by Georgia Revenue Service
Monday 2 October 2023
09:00 – 10:30 What’s Next for the International Tax Stamp Standard?
Admission is free for revenue authorities, other government agencies, and ITSA members. All other attendees are subject to a fee of €350.
In 2018 the International Standards Organisation (ISO) published ISO 22382, ‘Guidelines for the content, security, issuance and examination of excise tax stamps’. This standard is primarily intended as guidance for tax stamp issuers – including specifiers and designers – but it has proven useful to suppliers in facilitating their discussions with customers. Some revenue agencies have already referred to ISO 22382 in their requests for proposals.
It is ISO procedure to review a standard every five years, so this standard is now due for review.
The review is the opportunity to update and improve the standard based on the experience of its first years since publication and to incorporate new developments. The International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA), which contributed to the development of the standard, has launched a preliminary consultation with stakeholders to learn their view of the standard and – more importantly – how it should be improved through this review.
The Project Leader for this review is Ian Lancaster, who will therefore lead this workshop. He will present a draft of the proposed changes so that you – if you attend this workshop – can give your views and ideas on what should be changed, taken out of, or added to the standard.
This will also be your chance to consider not only how to improve this guidance standard, but whether there should be a corollary compliance standard for tax stamp suppliers, ie. so that suppliers can be certified as meeting the requirements of that standard, making it easier for customers to know that their chosen supplier is indeed suitable as a security stamp supplier.
All stakeholders in the tax stamp environment – revenue agencies, tax stamp issuers, stamp producers and suppliers, component producers and tax stamp inspectors – should have their say, so come to this workshop to contribute and hear others’ views on the next version of this important international standard.
10:30 Break – Refreshments
11:00 – 12:00 Implementing the FCTC Protocol
Admission reserved for revenue authorities, other government agencies, and ITSA members only. No other delegates will have access to this session.
Join ITSA for a discussion on how existing tax stamp programmes can technically comply with, and participate in, the global tobacco track and trace regime and information-sharing focal point (GSP) required under the WHO FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
ITSA will present a real-case example of two countries with tax stamp programmes already in place, to demonstrate how they can use their programmes to exchange track and trace data in line with Protocol requirements.
Therefore, most countries in the world are concerned by this game-changing treaty.
Time permitting, we will also provide ITSA members with an introduction and status update on the European Union’s Digital Product Passport initiative.
Government authorities and ITSA members who have already registered for the tax stamp standard workshop will be automatically registered for the ITSA session. Those not yet registered, who wish to attend the ITSA session, are invited to contact Alison Bell ([email protected]).
13:30 – 17:00 Tour of Zedazeni Brewery
We are very privileged to offer government delegates the chance to visit the Zedazeni brewery in Tbilisi on the afternoon of Monday 2nd October 2023. The visit will give government attendees the opportunity to see a direct marking project in operation. The Georgia Revenue Service will be in attendance and provide an overview of the overall fiscal marking programme as an introduction to the visit.
The tour is restricted to government authorities and numbers are strictly limited, so please register your interest as early as possible by contacting Alison Bell ([email protected]).
The tour delegates are subject to review.
18:30 Opening Reception – sponsored by Madras Security Printers
Tuesday 3 October 2023
Hover on the presentation title or speaker to see if more information is available.
Session 1 – Welcome and Overview
09:05
Welcome Address
Levan Dgebuadze
Georgia Revenue Service
09:30
The Importance of Analysis – Before and After Track and Trace Implementation
Nicola Sudan
International Tax Stamp Association (UK)
09:45
Status of Track and Trace System Required Under WHO FCTC Protocol
Luk Joossens
Smoke Free Partnership
10:00
An Environmental Scan: Current Developments Impacting Tax and Customs Administrations, and How to Leverage Them to your Advantage
Telita Snyckers
International Tax and Customs Transformation Consultant
10:15 Session Q&A
10:30 Break – Refreshments
Session 2 – Country Cases part I
11:00
Impact of Tax Stamps on Ghana’s Excise Tax Revenue
Michael Gyasi
Ghana Revenue Authority (Ghana)
11:15
Protection from the Storm: Implementing Lebanon’s Authentication and Traceability Solution
Mohamad Ali Ahmad
VP Government Solutions SCOPSIS (OpSec) (UK)
11:30
How Panama is Addressing Illicit Trade
Milagro Mendoza
General Directorate of Revenue (Panama)
11:45
Successful Tax Stamp Programmes are Easy, So Why do So Many Fail?
Tim Driscoll
Authentix (USA)
12:00 Session Q&A
12:15 Lunch
13:45 Session 3 – Panel Discussion – How do Inspectors Really Authenticate Tax Stamps?
Francisco Mandiola – FMA Secure – Chile – Chair
With panellists from tax and customs authorities
The panel discusses what actually happens in the field in terms of customs and law enforcement inspection techniques. It will talk about what devices and features are really used by inspectors to identify and authenticate tax stamps and products.
Are smartphones used as much as we think they are to scan barcodes on tax stamps or detect security features, or do inspectors rather rely on proprietary readers? And do inspectors ever use optical features such as holograms to authenticate tax stamps and products? Or maybe they don’t use any of these techniques and all, and rather rely on other methods to weed out acts of non-compliance and illicit trade?
14:45 Break – Refreshments
Session 4 – Direct Marking / Serialisation
15:30
Beverage Tax Stamps with Secure Direct Marking: Benefits Across a Dozen Countries
Ruggero Milanese
SICPA (Switzerland)
16:00
The Power of Digital Security Printing: Using Design / Personalisation Combinations to Solve Authentication Challenges
Tadej Turk
JURA (Hungary)
16:15
International Regulatory Aspects of Track and Trace & Related Issues
Jeannie Cameron
JCIC International
16:30 Session Q&A
16:45 Extended Exhibition Viewing
18:00 Gala Dinner – sponsored by De La Rue
Wednesday 4 October 2023
Session 5 – Country Cases part II
09:00
Recreational Cannabis Legalisation: The Canadian Experience
Tim McIntyre
Canadian Bank Note Company (Canada)
09:15
Supply Chain Traceability for Punjab Excise
Asir Ratan Singh
Madras Security Printers (India)
09:30
Insights and learnings from Digital Tax Stamp solutions in the Gulf Cooperation Council
Dave Sharratt
De La Rue (UK )
09:45
Encounters with Counterfeits of Digital Security Features
Sergej Toedtli
Thymaris (Switzerland)
10:00 Session Q&A
10:15 Break – Refreshments
Session 6 – Innovations
11:00
Optical Q-ID® – Unbreakable Quantum Signatures Verified by Standard Smartphone
Prof. Robert Young
Quantum Base (UK)
11:30
So Many Features, So Little Space – A Novel Look at Multifunctional Security Features
Stefaan D'hoore
Luminescence Sun Chemical Security (UK)
11:45
Who Cares About the Brakes on a Ferrari? Why Prioritizing Quality Control in Your Production Line will Help You Down the Line
Erwin Wagner
Baldwin Vision Systems (USA)
12:00 Session Q&A
12:15 Lunch
Session 7 – Digital and Physical Security
13:45
How to protect citizens while scanning 2D barcodes?
Zbigniew Sagan
Advanced Track & Trace (France)
Vincent Leyris
Advanced Track & Trace (France )
14:00
Nano-Optical Elements for Physical Security of Tax Stamps
Valentin Monovski
Demax Holograms (Bulgaria)
14:15
The Future of the International Standard for Tax Stamps
Ian Lancaster
Lancaster Consulting and Reconnaissance International (UK)
14:30
The Role of Smartphones in the Authentication Space – A New Report
Chander Shekhar Jeena
Reconnaissance International (UK)
14:45 Session Q&A
15:00 Closing Remarks and Farewell Drinks
Sponsorship Opportunities
Platinum
Sold-Out
Sponsorship of the cocktail reception or sponsorship of the conference dinner (additional charges apply)
Guaranteed presentation (subject to this meeting the criteria of the programme)
Promotional gift to delegates
Gold
Sold-Out
Includes one exhibition booth (max. 5x2m) with two delegates
Priority consideration to giving a presentation (subject to this meeting the criteria of the programme)
Plus one of the following options:
The sponsor to meet the cost of equipping these
The sponsor to meet the cost of equipping these
If none of the above options are suitable, an option may be chosen from the silver tier.
Silver
Sold-Out
Includes one exhibition booth (max. 4x2m) with one delegate
Priority consideration to giving a presentation (subject to this meeting the criteria of the programme)
Plus one of the following options:
Exhibitor Information
There will be approximately 20 exhibition booths located alongside the conference hall and the exhibition is open throughout the event.
Social events such as the Welcome Cocktail Reception and Farewell Drinks and all refreshment breaks are held in the exhibition area to maximise booth visitors.
Ends 01 Jun 2023
After 01 Jun 2023
Mini Booth (2m x 1m)
EUR 3,550
EUR 3,950
Standard Booth (3m x 2m)
EUR 5,750
EUR 6,400
What’s Included – Mini Booth
A cost-effective option for smaller companies who only want to display literature and have a representative on the stand
- 2x1m hard-walled booth
- Includes standard power supply, information counter and chairs
- 1 full conference delegate
- Listing on website and printed programme for the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum
What’s Included – Standard Booth
Allows space to display equipment and product examples or to have seated discussions
- 3x2m hard-walled booth
- Includes standard power supply, information counter and chairs
- 1 full conference delegate
- Listing on website and printed programme for the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum
MIni Booth (2m x 1m)
Ends 01 Jun 2023
After 01 Jun 2023
EUR 3,550
EUR 3,950
What’s Included – Mini Booth
A cost-effective option for smaller companies who only want to display literature and have a representative on the stand
- 2x1m hard-walled booth
- Includes standard power supply, information counter and chairs
- 1 full conference delegate
- Listing on website and printed programme for the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum
Standard Booth (3m x 2m)
Ends 01 Jun 2023
After 01 Jun 2023
EUR 5,750
EUR 6,400
What’s Included – Standard Booth
Allows space to display equipment and product examples or to have seated discussions
- 3x2m hard-walled booth
- Includes standard power supply, information counter and chairs
- 1 full conference delegate
- Listing on website and printed programme for the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum
Please note that local VAT at the prevailing rate will be added to all invoices where relevant.

Making Your Hotel Reservation
Delegates are responsible for arranging their own travel and accommodation.
The Hotel is Sold-Out
If you need assistance with your accommodation, please get in touch with us at [email protected]. We’ll be happy to help you with any accommodation-related questions or concerns you may have.
Contact Details
20 Telavi Street
Tbilisi 0103
Georgia
+995 322 77 20 20
Website


Beware of Unsolicited Offers
Delegates should only book their accommodation using the official reservation page when it becomes available – and not through any other agent.
Disreputable companies (such as Trade Show Housing) have been known to approach delegates with unauthorised offers – and these companies cannot be trusted.
Such companies have not been endorsed by us – and we never share delegate information with any housing company or travel agent. All unsolicited offers should be ignored.
If you have any questions or concerns about the hotel arrangements, contact the conference team:
[email protected]
+44 (0)1932 785 680
Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace
Delegate Fees
Government representatives can attend the conference free of charge – while special rates are available to state enterprise subsidiaries, , International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA) members and subscribers to Tax Stamp & Traceability News.
Further discounts apply for early registration – ends on 01 June 2023
Ends 01 Jun 2023
After 01 Jun 2023
Standard Delegate
EUR 2,250
EUR 2,500
State Enterprise Delegate 1
EUR 1,550
EUR 1,700
Subscriber to Tax Stamp & Traceability News 2
EUR 2,050
EUR 2,250
ITSA Member 3
EUR 1,800
EUR 2,000
Revenue Authority First Two Delegates 4
Free of charge
Free of charge
Revenue Authority Additional Delegate 4
EUR 1,150
EUR 1,250
2. Subscriber to Tax Stamp & Traceability News – Includes a 10% discount on the standard delegate rate
3. ITSA Member – Includes a 20% discount on the standard delegate rate
4. Revenue Authority Delegate – Applies to representatives from finance ministries, revenue, customs and excise authorities, enforcement and other government agencies – at a federal, national, state or provincial level. It does not apply to state-owned production enterprises (who instead qualify for the state enterprise rate).
Pre-Conference Workshop Fees
There is an additional charge to attend our pre-conference workshop. Government delegates and ITSA members can attend for free.
Government – ITSA
All Other Delegates
Pre-Conference Workshop
Free of charge
EUR 350
Delegate Fees
Government representatives can attend the conference free of charge – while special rates are available to state enterprise subsidiaries, ITSA members and subscribers to Tax Stamp & Traceability News.
Further discounts apply for early registration – ends on 01 June 2023
Standard Delegate
Ends 01 Jun 2023
After 01 Jun 2023
EUR 2,250
EUR 2,500
State Enterprise Delegate
Ends 01 Jun 2023
After 01 Jun 2023
EUR 1,550
EUR 1,700
State Enterprise Delegate – Applies to 100% state-owned enterprises, such as printers, systems integrator or other suppliers. State enterprises that subscribe to Tax Stamp & Traceability News are also entitled to an additional 10% discount
Subscriber to Tax Stamp & Traceability News
Ends 01 Jun 2023
After 01 Jun 2023
EUR 2,050
EUR 2,250
Subscriber to Tax Stamp & Traceability News – Includes a 10% discount on the standard delegate rate
ITSA Member
Ends 01 Jun 2023
After 01 Jun 2023
EUR 1,800
EUR 2,000
ITSA Member – Includes a 20% discount on the standard delegate rate
Revenue Authority First Two Delegates
Ends 01 Jun 2023
After 01 Jun 2023
Free of charge
Free of charge
Revenue Authority Delegate– Applies to representatives from finance ministries, revenue, customs and excise authorities, enforcement and other government agencies – at a federal, national, state or provincial level. It does not apply to state-owned production enterprises (who instead qualify for the state enterprise rate)..
Revenue Authority Additional Delegate
Ends 01 Jun 2023
After 01 Jun 2023
EUR 1,150
EUR 1,250
Revenue Authority Delegate– Applies to representatives from finance ministries, revenue, customs and excise authorities, enforcement and other government agencies – at a federal, national, state or provincial level. It does not apply to state-owned production enterprises (who instead qualify for the state enterprise rate)..
Pre-Conference Workshop Fees
There is an additional charge to attend our pre-conference workshop. Government delegates and ITSA members can attend for free.
All Other Delegates
Pre-Conference Workshop
EUR 350