PAKISTAN
The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) in Pakistan recently organized a session on “track and trace systems of tobacco products”.
Tariq Hussain Sheikh, project director of Track and Trace System, said the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is moving ahead with the installation of software on the premises of legitimate cigarette manufacturers to gauge real production through pasting of stamps in a bid to stop the sale of illicit brands on the market. Malik Imran of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Pakistan office, said the track and trace system was a digital solution, whereby the production of goods was digitally monitored in near real-time.
“Almost all European and Far Eastern and even some African countries have installed the system to monitor the excisable goods, especially tobacco. In Pakistan, we also need to implement this system,” he said.
Sajjad Ahmad Cheema, executive director of SPARC, said it would ensure uninterrupted and autonomous data collection along production lines and non-intrusive equipment with no impact on production speed and production capacity.
He added that the track and trace system would use encrypted communication with a central database, remote monitoring of tax stamps application equipment, inspection through handheld wireless electronic devices, and online activation of codes.
Chaudhry Sanaullah Ghuman, general secretary at the Pakistan Heart Association, said the track and trace system would ensure the provisions of consumer authentication through smartphones, automated forecasting of tax revenues, production control reports, risk assessment, behavior, and compliance management.