Ireland: New Stamp To Appear On Tobacco Packaging

Source from:  RTE.ie 05/24/2019

Revenue is to introduce a new stamp on cigarette and rolling tobacco packaging in an effort to combat the supply and sale of illegal cigarettes.

The new stamp will appear from June onwards, replacing the previous stamp which had been in use since 2015.

Revenue has warned that there may still be some tobacco products on sale featuring the old stamp for a time after that until old stock is sold by retailers.

The aim of the stamp is to reassure consumers that tax has been paid on the cigarettes and tobacco for sale in shops and pubs.

Over 67 million illicit cigarettes and 2,000 kgs of smoking tobacco with a combined value of over €42 million were seized by Revenue last year.

"Improvements in technology facilitated a new stamp design that contains multiple complex security features to guard against counterfeiting and the illicit trade," said Emily Swift, head of the Alcohol, Tobacco & Multiples Branch in Revenue’s Large Corporates Division.

"If cigarettes or fine cut tobacco, intended for retail sale in Ireland, do not have a tax stamp affixed to it, the product is liable to seizure by Revenue."

"The use of innovative technological security features allows us to verify authentic tax stamps and identify counterfeit stamps in ‘real time’."

According to Revenue the vast majority of people are tax compliant and don’t want to support non-compliance and illegal activity.  Enditem