The tax stamps (seals) on tobacco products in Luxembourg will be changed in appearance after more than 50 years of being the same.
The seals are to be updated in both Luxembourg and Belgium at the same time (both use the same print company, Fedopress, the document service facility of the Federal Public Service of Finance in Brussels), swapping the old ochre-coloured seals for new blue seals. The new seals/stamps will still carry an "L" for all Luxembourg market products.
The new seals/stamps have been made taking into particular consideration the future EU requirements against illicit trafficking and the need for them to not be easily counterfeited. With this in mind the new seal/stamp will all be made on special paper with a watermark as well as other both visible and invisible precautions having been taken. The seals/stamps will be the same dimensions as the old ones but a QR code has been added to provide further information and to utilise the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive which tracks and traces cigarettes destined for, or placed on, the EU market.
The new seals/stamps will be but into circulation on cigarettes, smoking tobacco products and cigars in the coming months. The old and new stamps will both be in ciurculation for a 12-month overlap period.
The new seals/stamps are friendlier to the environment as they are printed on single sheets of paper and better for the budget since there will be a standardisation of formats and so an optimisation of the production process. The paper carries the FSC label for sustainable forest management in accordance with European directives.
Photo by: Customs & Excise
