Beer is one of the most common product categories subject to excise duties, along with non-alcoholic beverages, such as soft drinks and bottled water. However, using paper-based tax stamps for these products poses several operational challenges.

A track and trace solution that prints unique codes directly on the bottle or can, using security inks, offers significant advantages, while keeping the ability to protect the system from fake and duplicated codes.

We will describe a solution that has been implemented by revenue authorities in over a dozen countries, and the benefits achieved. We will also present some recent innovations, which provide additional benefits, such as interoperability and consumer verification.