Tracking compromised

The International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA) has warned that there are ‘failings and loopholes’ in EU plans for tobacco security, according to a story in Packaging News.

The organization is concerned about the implementation of the track-and-trace and security-feature requirements of the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive.

It said that the draft legislation gave no guarantee of independence from the tobacco industry and that it did not provide strong authentication tools for controllers and consumers.

Juan Yañez, chair of the ITSA, is due to highlight the group’s concerns to members of the European parliament.

He said that manufacturers could “manipulate” the unique identifier for track and trace purposes, because they would be able to print it onto cigarette packs themselves, or even not print it at all.

The Packaging News story is at: https://www.packagingnews.co.uk/news/tax-trade-body-warns-eu-tobacco-track-trace-plans-21-09-2017.