Hologram Industry News

The federal government has enlisted the help of a Switzerland-based company for a battle against counterfeit tobacco.

SICPA Product Security has been hired by the Canada Revenue Agency to help design new hidden security features such as holograms that will be mandatory on all cigarette packages and tobacco tins manufactured in or imported to Canada.

The new features will replace the current low-tech stamps that indicate federal taxes have been paid on the product - ones that counterfeiters have been able to easily duplicate.

Under a three-year contract finalized earlier this month, SICPA will be part of a joint venture with the Canadian Bank Note Company in Ottawa, which prints much of the country’s paper currency.

While the exact size of the illegal trade is hard to pinpoint, governments, police and cigarette manufacturers agree it is a major problem.

A survey released last year by the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers Council suggested one in five cigarettes smoked in Canada was contraband.
Sources: http://www.cjob.com/news/index.aspx?dir=national&src=ext&rem=./n0109107A.xml