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

Customs in Transition
Tax Stamp & Authentication News™ Tax Stamp & Authentication News™

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.

Pharma White Paper Looks Beyond Serialisation
Tax Stamp & Authentication News™ Tax Stamp & Authentication News™

14 July 2026

Pharma White Paper Looks Beyond Serialisation

More than a decade after the US pharmaceutical industry embarked on large-scale serialisation under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), a new white paper argues that the next phase of anti-counterfeiting will depend on far more than unique product codes. In ‘The Evolving World of Counterfeit Drugs... Where Does Serialization Fit?’ published by Colbert Packaging, the US pharmaceutical packaging manufacturer concludes that while serialisation has become an essential foundation for pharmaceutical supply chain security, it should now be viewed as just one component of a broader product protection strategy.

Industry Awards Recognise Two Distinct Paths to Authentication
Tax Stamp & Authentication News™ Tax Stamp & Authentication News™

8 July 2026

Industry Awards Recognise Two Distinct Paths to Authentication

Two authentication technologies representing very different approaches to product security have received international recognition, highlighting the broad spectrum of innovation taking place across the industry. US-based Alitheon has been named Overall Authentication Solution of the Year at the 2026 AI Breakthrough Awards, while Germany's Schreiner MediPharm has received the Group Award for Innovation at the 2026 FINAT Label Competition for its Digital Security Seal for pharmaceutical packaging.