Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum

Tbilisi | Georgia

2-4 October 2023

 

Concentrated very much on the core questions for tax stamps. The hotel and conference conditions were very charming. It was a great experience.

Portuguese Mint – Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda

Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum

Tbilisi | Georgia

2-4 October 2023

 

The forum has significantly brought together the needs of stamp users (government agencies) and producers of stamps and providers of integrated solutions. The government forum is particularly useful.

Kenya Revenue Authority

Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum

Tbilisi | Georgia

2-4 October 2023

 

This event has been an eye-opening experience for me with a lot of new information, providing another area of opportunity for our country. The sky is certainly the limit for new innovation and technological advances to efficiently fight illicit trade.

Rwanda Revenue Authority

Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum

Tbilisi | Georgia

2-4 October 2023

 

Some great presentations about the benefits of tax stamps. Especially good for Optel to see how we can propose our vision solutions as a leader in pharma to a new market which is growing at an exceptional rate.

Optel Group

Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum

Tbilisi | Georgia

2-4 October 2023

 

The conference was a huge success. The themes and subjects discussed were very well delivered, with more complex aspects discussed at Introductory level.

Rwanda Revenue Authority

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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
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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?

Come to this workshop to have your say on the next version of 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

Guidelines for revenue authorities running tax stamp programmes International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA)

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.

67 countries are currently party to the Protocol which obliges them to implement secure track and trace systems on tobacco products. And an additional 168 countries have signed the broader FCTC convention, requiring them to consider, as appropriate, developing a practical track and trace regime.

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

09:00

Welcome and Forum Overview

Nicola Sudan

Tax Stamp & Traceability News™ (UK)

09:05

Welcome Address

Levan Dgebuadze

Georgia Revenue Service

09:15

The Tax Stamp and Traceability System in Georgia

Teona Shiukashvili

Revenue Service (Georgia)

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)

15:45

Traceability Technology for Successful Tax Stamp Programs

Trevor Willis

Optel Group (Canada)

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)

11:15

Introducing Diffractive Tax Stamp Paper

Thomas Brücklmeier

LEONHARD KURZ (Germany )

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

Astrid Mitchell

Reconnaissance Intl (UK)

14:45 Session Q&A
15:00 Closing Remarks and Farewell Drinks

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

1. State Enterprise Delegate – Applies to 100% state-owned enterprises, such as printers, systems integrators or other suppliers. State enterprises that subscribe to Tax Stamp & Traceability News are also entitled to an additional 10% discount
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