Complying With The Tobacco Products Directive
Published by Mark Cramer on 22nd Oct 2019
New legislations require that all organisations within the Tobacco Supply Chain, must comply with the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) that came into effect as of May 20th 2019. Those who don’t act within the new legislations, are said to risk economic and financial consequences.
The directive has been devised to try and stop the sale of counterfeited and contraband tobacco products. The new laws instruct that all stakeholders must ensure that security measures are carried out on each tobacco product, and during every stage of the Supply Chain.
It is to be complied by all parties involved in the operation, including;
- Distributors
- Wholesalers
- Retailers
- Mobile Sales Operators (Direct Store Delivery)
- Merchandisers (Vending Machine Refills)
- 3rd Party Contracted Logistics Service Providers
Each party is required to track and trace each tobacco product and record all crucial data before the last point of sale.
Most importantly, under the Traceability Features System included within the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), all tobacco products manufactured and imported, will be obliged to carry out a tamper-proof security feature designed with visible and invisible elements, which will allow authorities and consumers to establish the product’s authenticity.
With participation mandatory, finding a solution to follow the legislation is understandably difficult, which is where Labelman Ltd. can assist you.
One of the visible elements required in the security feature is the 2D Data Matrix, which needs to be printed on each individual tobacco product. This includes a Unique Serial Number (issued by appointed Unique ID user), a location identifier, a date, and time stamp. There are multiple mobile devices that are capable of reading the 2D Data Carrier, which we can exclusively offer you.
The TC75, TC56 and MC33 are compatible handheld devices that have the scanning capability to scan the required codes written within the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), as well as high quality performance features, to ensure that the scan can be done efficiently and accurately during each point of the Supply Chain.
Additionally, as well as hardware and device solutions listed above, we are able to offer you accessories, cloud-based software, and supporting services to ensure that your organization is fully compliant to the whole legislation.
Although our scanners are a key solution and great investment, in order to result in a complete resolution for compliance, we advise to adhere to extra processes. Such as label printers to correctly mark units, software systems to minimise the impact on the operations productivity, and device security to extend the lifecycle of your investment.
For full assistance on your investment into compliance, and exclusive information on our compatible products, please don’t hesitate to contact us.