Markets We Serve
Tax Stamps, Authentication & Traceability
Tax stamps, product authentication and traceability — the intelligence behind how governments protect excise revenue and consumers verify what is genuine.
Illicit trade in tobacco, alcohol and other excisable goods costs governments billions in lost revenue every year. Reconnaissance International has followed the tax stamp and authentication sector since our founding in 1988, tracking the technologies, programmes and policy developments that help governments secure excise revenue and give consumers and brand owners the tools to verify what is genuine — serving tax authorities, security printers, technology suppliers and brand protection professionals worldwide.
Tax Stamp & Authentication News™ is our dedicated title for the sector, covering tax stamp programmes, track-and-trace systems, product authentication technology and the fight against illicit trade. It is the publication tax authorities and their supply chains turn to first.
We bring the sector together in person through our own conference portfolio — most notably the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum, alongside the Security Designers Forum, Optical & Digital Document Security and our High Security Printing series across Asia and EMEA.
For teams who need structured reference data rather than news, DataVault Tax Stamps is our specialist research platform — the only comprehensive source of data on global tax stamp and traceability programmes. And where clients need more than information, our consultancy team provides market research, competitive intelligence and government advisory work drawing on the same first-hand knowledge that underpins our publications and events.
Latest From Our Newsletters
12 Aug. 2026
Quantum Base Explores What Really Makes Smartphone Authentication Work
With some 7 billion smartphones in use worldwide and scannable 2D codes set to become almost ubiquitous on consumer products, the potential to turn the smartphone into a mass-market authentication device has never been greater.
5 Aug. 2026
Tom Taylor Joins ITSA Board as Association Welcomes New Member
The International Tax Stamp, Authentication and Traceability Association (ITSA) has welcomed Tom Taylor, CEO of Quantum Base, to its board of directors, while AWT Labels & Packaging has joined the association as its newest member.
21 July 2026
Customs in Transition
The World Customs Organisation's latest Illicit Trade Report suggests that customs administrations have entered a new era. The growth of e-commerce is transforming the way illicit goods move around the world, while organised crime is increasingly exploiting parcel networks and online marketplaces in place of traditional smuggling routes. Yet despite these changing distribution models, familiar challenges such as tobacco smuggling continue to dominate customs activity aimed at protecting government revenues.