The new holographic tax bands are already in production. After old stocks run out, all new cigarette packets will carry the new band, said the director general.

Recently, a large number of contraband cigarettes have been seized. International tax bands are being forged all over the world, continued Mr Mifsud, and by adopting these new holographic bands, Malta can reduce the risk of its tax bands suffering the same fate.

This is an example of Malta Customs Department working to strengthen its control system, said Mr Mifsud, and shows other EU states that Malta is making an effort to improve. The new tax band will be shown to the customs departments of other EU countries to encourage them to take the same measures as Malta.

Parliamentary Secretary Tony Abela said the customs department’s hard work in this field should be a prototype for the way all government departments should operate and seek to give better service. The new holographic bands are produced by Galaxy Ltd, local representatives for Optaglio, a company based in England. An Optaglio representative explained that the holographic tax bands provide visual and forensic security.

The resolution is high and the optical microstructure uses electron beam technology that allows greater detail and a lesser chance of forgery, he said. The security components the new tax band incorporates means it can be traced, which is an added security feature. Optaglio’s advanced technology is the same as that used to produce the hologram on VISA credit cards.

At yesterday’s launch Mr Mifsud was presented with a certificate of the design as well as the design itself. As mentioned earlier, the tax bands are already in production and cigarette packets will soon be carrying them.