Cheaper System for Identifying Illicit Packs

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 07/27/2010

Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco (PMFTC) has said it is ready to present an alternative technology that will enable the Philippines government to identify tobacco products that have paid the correct amount of excise tax, according to a Business World Online story. PMFTC president, Chris Nelson, was said to have told reporters that the technology, called Codentify, was a numeric bar code-based system now being used in Germany and Portugal. The system was designed to enable authorities to check promptly the legitimacy of specific packs by texting the number to the system for verification. Codentify was a cheaper alternative to the stamp-based system proposed in 2006 by Swiss firm, SICPA Security Solutions. Codentify apparently minimizes costs by doing away with proprietary code-reading scanners and training. Enditem