Monday February 23
Session 1:
 The Tax Stamp Environment
9:00 am
 Welcome to Budapest and the Tax Stamp Forum
Janos Nagy, Hungarian Finance and Customs Guard



9:10 am
 Hungary - Meeting the Ever-Challenging and Changing Excise Environment
Zsuzsanna Halabrin, Hungarian Banknote Printing Corporation

9:30 am
 Tax Stamps: Past, Present and Future
Astrid Mitchell, Reconnaissance International
At the end of 2007 Reconnaissance International published Tax Stamps: a Technical Analysis and Market Report, the first survey of its kind to examine the global market for tax stamps. The key findings of this report are presented in terms of the history of tax stamps, current drivers, the size and growth of this market, the proven benefits of tax stamps and future opportunities.
9:50 am Tax Evasion, Smuggling and Counterfeiting
Chris Braham, Chris Braham Consultants (formerly UK Customs)
Organised crime is one of the major threats to national security, with criminal groups building up large-scale international networks and amassing substantial profits from illicit trafficking, counterfeiting and fraud. This presentation - from Chris Braham, who spent 38 years with UK Customs and was then engaged by the European Commission in the West. Balkans. He is an acknowledged international expert in border crime and corruption, criminal investigation and intelligence, frontier interdiction, EU standards and anti-smuggling techniques. He will outline the current trends in crime and law enforcement, and discuss how tax stamps form part of the arsenal of techniques governments use to minimise social damage and increase economic strength.
10:10 am The International Regulatory Environment and the Protocol on Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products
Jeannie Cameron, BAT

10:30 am Panel Discussion and Q & A
10:40 am Refreshment Break
11:10 am Revenue Enforcement and the Role of Tax Stamps
(tbc)
11:30 am An Overview of the US - Federal v State
Farrell Delman, Tobacco Merchants Association
11:50 am
 Impact Analysis of Platform Technology Innovations on Tax Stamp Domain for Products
Ankit Shukla, Frost & Sullivan
Fraud has evolved into an inexorable and pervasive issue in tax evasion practises. Driven by the tax differential between states and countries, fraudsters are constantly forging new ways to evade tax, such as counterfeiting, which results in tax collection authorities struggling to check losses. Frost & Sullivan will throw light on the global innovations related to the platform technologies (eg. digital printing, tracking, novel encryption techniques, authentication engine, packaging, nano-scale security) that are currently being used, or have the potential to be used, in product tax stamping solutions, and understand their future impact on tax revenue management and recovery. The multitudinous global technology development and key trends that drive the future of this domain will be the focal point of this presentation.
12:10 pm Tax Stamps - Who Brings What to the Table
Charlie Krausse, SPOTT-ON Consulting LLC (formerly Altria)
Charlie Krausse, recently retired as at Head of Product Intelligence and Security at Altria, will look at the different perspectives of state revenue agencies, tax stamp designers/manufacturers/printers, wholesalers/distributors and cigarette manufacturers, examining the objectives and issues of each, their approaches, considerations and the relationships that operate across all the different groups.
12:30 pm Panel Discussion and Q & A
12:30 pm Lunch
Session 2: Putting Theory Into Practice - The Issues And Challenges For Tax Stamp Implementation
2:00 pm The UK - Providing an Alternative System for Liquor and Cigarettes
Ruth Ryan, HM Revenue and Customs
The UK has not, until recently, had tax stamps. Taxes on both cigarettes and alcohol are among the highest in the world, however, and increasing losses to smuggling resulted in the introduction, in 2006, of a programme for spirits. Unlike those based on conventional strip stamps, this is primarily a dual option stamping system which was developed in conjunction with spirits producers to accommodate the requirements of both parties. More recently, the UK has introduced a form of covert tax stamp for cigarettes. The HMRC explains its rationale for the two novel approaches and the results so far.
2:20 pm
 Alaska: Paradigm of the States
Janis Hales, State of Alaska, Department of Revenue
This presentation will provide a brief summary of how cigarette and tobacco tax collection in Alaska works and how it compares to the majority of US states. Alaska, like many other states, depends on the security stamp to maximize tax revenue collection and aid in cigarette contraband detection and investigation.
2:40 pm
 The Internet - a channel for contraband and counterfeiting
Sharron Laster, State of Alaska, Department of Revenue
The State of Alaska, Department of Revenue, Tax Division Internet program was established in 2003, since when Jenkins Reports have been received from approximately 20 internet sites and over 1,400 taxpayers who have purchased cigarettes over the internet have been contacted. Since the program began, procedures for allowing taxpayers to make payments to pay the tax and interest owed have been established, guidance on the state law provided and taxpayers across the state educated on what tobacco products can be purchased and what a taxpayer needs before they can purchase cigarettes off the internet.
3:00 pm Panel Discussion and Q & A
3:10 pm Refreshment Break
3:40 pm Revenue Generation through Security Tax Stamps in Limited Resource Countries
Dr Andres Diaz Cote, Figurazione
In Colombia, each of the nine states has its own alcohol industry and is permitted to retain all relevant excise duties. Potentially, this means nine distinct revenue protection programs. In this presentation, Dr Diaz describes the liquor and tobacco revenue collection models currently adopted and the technical systems deployed to support them. Statistical data will be presented to demonstrate the success of the solutions implemented since 1998.
4:00 pm
 Tax Stamps: a Commercial Hunt or a Cooperative Opportunity
Paul Eimers, Joh Enschede Security Print
Tax stamps are a major business opportunity for security printers and developers of security features, each of which wants to sell their own solutions or facilities. However, each country's requirements are different, and the most effective tax stamps systems are those that are created when developers/printers work in cooperation with Ministries of Finance to offer one-stop integrated solutions that are tailored to their specific requirements. In the presentation, Joh Enschede Security Print, whose involvement in tax stamp production dates back over 100 years, provides a blueprint for how the process of partnership between client and supplier in specifying and sourcing tax stamp systems can work to provide the optimum solution.
4:20 pm
 Public/Private Partnerships in Tax Stamp Enforcement
Vaughn Volpi, PICA Corporation
Governments make substantial investments each year in the production of tax stamps but, with the world on the brink of global recession, they are looking for ways to cut their budgets, with inspectors being re-assigned or laid off and sub-standard, easily counterfeited stamps used to save money. There is an alternative, however, that enables governments to bolster the effectiveness of their tax stamp programs while keeping their budgets intact by combining new, low cost, state-of-the-art authentication technologies with the privatization of much of the enforcement process. Graham Pollock of PICA - a corporate/governmental investigative firm - will walk delegates through the implementation steps of this initiative and give specific models showing the potential cost savings and return on investment in sample geographies.
4:40 pm Panel Discussion and Q & A
5:00 pm End of first day
Tax Stamp Forum Buffet Dinner
& Table Top Exhibition - 7:00 pm
The Table Top Exhibition will take place at the Tax Stamp Forum Networking Dinner on February 23rd. Exhibitors will have a table top display or equivalent area at the dinner to give enhanced participant focus on the displays.
Exhibitor space is still available at this very low cost show-and-tell exhibit.
Tuesday February 24
Session 3: Authentication And Serialisation


9:00 am Banknote Experience for Tax Stamps
David Kenny, European Central Bank
Tax stamps are becoming increasingly analogous to banknotes in their use of anti-counterfeit features. The euro is one of the most well-protected banknotes, the security features of which have been selected to cater for a range of stakeholders and employ both traditional and contemporary anti-counterfeiting technologies. In addition, the ECB continues to rigorously evaluate emerging technologies as regards suitability for inclusion in the next banknote series. David Kenny, counterfeit expert in the ECB's Counterfeit Analysis Centre, will evaluate the existing euro banknote security features, so that the lessons learned may be applied in the world of tax stamps.
9:20 am Sensory and Digital Technologies for Authentication and Serialisation - a Critical Combination for a Wrap-Around Solution
International Authentication Association
With the rapid development of technologies to deter counterfeit, piracy and contraband, a clear distinction has opened up between sensory and digital authentication - the first involving the examination by one or more of the human senses, the other requiring the use of computers, networks and/or communications devices. Both can play a vital role in authentication and serialization- the twin essential requirements for an effective tax stamp programme. This presentation explains the distinction between the two how they can best be combined to provide a wrap-around solution to tax evasion and fraud.
9:40 am The Advantage of Coated Tax Stamp Papers
Michaela Quinn, Tullis Russell
As the volume of tax stamps is increasing worldwide, so too is the need for increased security features. Tullis Russell is a leading supplier of substrates for tax stamps and takes a layered approach to security offering features both within the substrates and, most recently, coatings that provide exceptional results for intaglio, gravure, letterpress, flexo, inkjet, digital and laser print, as well as surface-applied features. In this presentation the company talks about the need for this layered approach, and the benefits that the new generation of coated substrates provides for printers and revenue authorities in terms of productivity, quality and security.

10:00 am Serialisation - The Key to Authentication
Simon Pitman, De La Rue
The core principle of product identification is to provide a unique coded identifier otherwise known as 'serialisation'. Combining some form of secure code applied at one or multiple levels of packaging with a secure and central data management provides brand owners and enforcement agencies with previously unavailable access to actionable data to help combat nefarious supply chain activities and grow revenues. A web-based platform also allows for a number of innovative ways for involving all elements within the supply chain to encourage and target compliance.
10:20 am Panel Discussion and Q & A

10:30 am Refreshment Break
11:00 am The Internet - Tools to Identify and Prevent Counterfeits and Contraband
Charlie Abrahams, MarkMonitor
The internet has developed into a prime conduit for illicit products - whether contraband, diverted or counterfeit - and, in the case of tobacco and alcohol, poses a major headache for manufacturers and excise departments alike. It is estimated, for example, that in 2008 online sales of counterfeit and diverted goods will cost businesses nearly $140 billion. But help is at hand, through tools and services that enable illicit online channels and activities to be detected, monitored and controlled or closed down. This presentation from MarkMonitor explains how.
11:20 am
 The End of the Traditional Tax Stamp Era?
Majid Fazeli, Authentix
Traditionally tobacco excise taxes are collected through the application of a government-issued label that must be affixed to the product at the time of manufacturing or at a distribution/wholesaler facility - a process that is costly and open to fraud. Utilising nano-engineered materials, secure web-service applications, data encryption, high speed digital imaging and communication and event-driven information systems, it is now possible to uniquely identify, register and authenticate a pack of cigarettes through an encrypted indicia printed on the product packaging at the time of manufacturing. An all digital excise tax collection solution will be described in this paper by Authentix.

11:40 am
 The Evolution of Security Inks for Fiscal Stamps
Nick Cooper, Luminescence
Over the past 20 years there has been a steady evolution in the types of security inks required for fiscal stamps - offering many benefits for consumers, retailers, enforcers and issuers. In this paper, Nick Cooper examines these inks - the technologies they incorporate for overt and covert verification, the different levels of security provided and the development of new inks that can now be used to authenticate and track/trace products through the distribution and retail chain.
12:00 noon
 Authentication and Serialization Using Encapsulated SERS-Active Nanoparticles
Michael Natan, Oxonica
This presentation describes how this novel technology can be used in the tax stamp arena, emphasizing use in offset, flexo, and screen printing inks/processes, consistent and accurate readout from handhelds or high-speed readers, and serialization via an enormous code space.
12:20 pm
 Panel Discussion and Q & A
12:30 pm
 Lunch
Session 4:
 End-To-End Tax Stamp Systems

1:30 pm
 Implementation of Tax Stamps in a New Country
Naim Huruglica, Director General, UNMIK Customs Service
Kosovo is a new sovereign state whose economy is in a transitioning process towards market-based system. Some 70% of the budget contribution comes from customs. The high volume of imported cigarettes necessitated the introduction of a banderole regime, after which the level of smuggling dropped from 30% to 7%. Following this success, a project to implement banderols on alcohols and spirits is taking place. In his presentation, Mr Huruglica will describe both projects.
1:50 pm Latvia - Adoption of Full-Face Holographic Stamps
Arturs Danilans, Latvia State Revenue Service
In the 1990s Latvia introduced tax stamps to ensure revenue flowed from its newly-deregulated cigarette and spirits markets, adopting pressure-sensitive holographic labels in place of more conventional tax stamps. This presentation examines the origin of the fiscal marking of tobacco goods and alcohol products, a description of the security features along with data on stamps issued, revenue collected - and the impact of the stamps on this revenue.
2:10 pm Serbia - New Stamps Deliver Revenues and Decrease Illegal Trade
Nebojsa Djurovic, National Bank of Serbia
The National Bank of Serbia's Insitute for Manufacturing Banknotes and Coins (Zin) has the capacity to produce tax stamps with high level of security features. The introduction of new intaglio printed tax stamps in 2004 has had a positive impact on the country by increasing budget revenues, decreasing the illegal trade in alcohol and tobacco and reducing counterfeiting to zero. Mr Djurovic, Deputy Director General of Zin, explains how.

2:30 pm Panel Discussion and Q & A
2:40 pm Refreshment Break

3:10 pm Brazil - the Evolution from Paper to Digital Tax Stamps in Brazil
Carlos Roberto de Oliveira & Arnaldo Martins Seixas, Casa da Moeda do Brasil

3:30 pm Indonesia - Protecting a Major Source of Government Revenue in a High Usage Country
Niladyo Utaman, Pura Group and Suparyanto Indonesian Department of Excise & Stamps
Indonesia is one of the most populous countries in the world, one of the earliest adopters of tax stamps and one of the highest consumers of cigarettes. Excise duty on both tobacco and liquor provide an important source of government revenue and, over the past ten years or more, a succession of upgrades have been implemented to improve the performance of the stamps in preventing counterfeiting and recovering duty. This presentation looks at the issues specific to Indonesia, the challenges of deploying tax stamps on this scale from the perspective of both the government and its supplier, and the rewards that have resulted from this deployment.
3:50 pm Kyrgyzstan - Fiscal Reform and the Role of Tax Stamps
Mrs Nina R Valieva, Director, Kyrgyzstan State Agency for Information Resource & Technologies

4:10 pm Panel Discussion and Q & A
4:25 pm Concluding remarks and close of conference
Ian Lancaster, Reconnaissance International
4:30 pm Close of Forum