Baroness Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Crawley on 2016-01-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the terms of reference are for the HMRC pilot of the tobacco industry’s Codentify system for product authentication; how long that pilot will last; on what tobacco products that pilot is being undertaken; and with which tobacco companies that pilot is taking place.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

HMRC is piloting the Codentify system, a product authentication tool that is currently used on tobacco packaging.

The objectives of HMRC’s pilot are to use and test Codentify as a product authentication tool that could help tackle illicit tobacco.

There is currently no specified end date to the pilot but HMRC will review its use of Codentify within 2016.

Codentify is being used to authenticate cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco that carry the code, which are those produced by Phillip Morris International, Japan Tobacco International, Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco.

No discussions have taken place with these companies on the scope or format of HMRC’s planned review.