Proof, built into the product.
Tax stamp security, product authentication and supply chain traceability for revenue authorities, ministries and security printers across African markets.
- Incorporated
- 2025
- Jurisdiction
- Uganda
- Office
- Kampala, Uganda
- Enquiries
- +256 706 659055
Who we are
A Ugandan company incorporated in 2025, dedicated to strengthening market integrity and combating illicit trade through advanced security solutions. A technical consultant, security consumables supplier and strategic partner to security printers and regulatory authorities.
We combine technology, innovation and regulatory insight to deliver scalable solutions that promote transparency and accountability across African markets.
We do not operate our own security printing presses. We bring together international security technologies and local expertise to support institutions, supplying premium security papers, advanced authentication features and technical advisory services that enable our partners to deliver secure documents.
What a stamp carries
A stamp is not one security feature. It is a stack of them, each defeating a different attack, and each readable by someone different.
In daylight only the overt layer is visible. Pass the lamp over the stamp.
- 01
Guilloché line work
Interlaced curves from a geometric lathe. Reproducing them by scan or by hand loses the register, which is what makes the copy visible.
- 02
Serialised numbering
Every stamp tied to the batch it was issued against, so volumes declared can be reconciled against volumes marked.
- 03
Microtext
Type too small to survive a photocopier. Legible under a loupe, a smear in a counterfeit.
- 04
Data matrix
The machine-readable link between the physical stamp and the record of where it has been seen.
- 05
Covert authentication mark
Absent in daylight, fluorescing under a lamp. The field check that needs no network and no training.
Capabilities
Seven lines of work, from the specification of a national excise programme to the supply of the paper it is printed on.
- Excise
Tax stamps and excise assurance
High-security tax stamp programmes for revenue authorities and licensed manufacturers, built to protect excise revenue and to make every stamp accountable from issue to sale.
- Track-and-trace excise stamps
- Serialised issue and reconciliation
- Overt and covert security features
- Integration with existing regulatory systems
- Authentication
Product authentication and brand protection
Verification technologies that let an inspector, a distributor or a consumer confirm that a product is genuine, using the device already in their hand.
- Holographic foils and films
- Covert watermarks
- Serialised barcoding
- QR and NFC marking
- Blockchain-based authentication
- Traceability
Supply chain traceability
Traceability frameworks that follow a product from origin to market, giving regulators and businesses a single account of where goods have actually been.
- Origin-to-market product tracking
- Diversion and leakage detection
- Real-time movement data
- Market intelligence reporting
- Documents
Secure documents and identity
Security features and materials for the documents a state issues in its own name, from national identity cards and passports to cheques, vouchers and banking stationery.
- National identity cards
- Passports and travel documents
- Driver's licences
- Employee and access badges
- Tamper-evident cheques and vouchers
- Specialised banking stationery
- Digital
Digital systems for government
Digital transformation advice and software for authorities working to close revenue leakage, reduce illicit trade and deliver services to citizens.
- Digital transformation advisory
- Software for revenue authorities
- Revenue leakage analysis
- Citizen service delivery systems
- Brand and consumer protection
- Materials
Security materials and consumables
Supply of security papers, inks, foils and numbering systems from certified manufacturers, to specifications that hold up under examination.
- Security papers
- Security inks, including UV-reactive
- Holographic films
- Numbering systems
- Certified global manufacturers
- Advisory
Compliance, advisory and technical assistance
Technical audits, regulatory guidance and production support for institutions running or procuring a security programme.
- Technical audits
- Regulatory guidance
- Production planning
- Quality assurance
- Overt and covert feature integration
Security features
A programme layers features an inspector can check by eye with covert features that need an instrument to read.
Physical security features
- Holographic foils and films
- Covert watermarks
- Microtext
- UV-reactive inks
- Guilloché line work
- Security papers
Serialisation and marking
- Serialised barcoding
- Numbering systems
- Track-and-trace excise stamps
- QR code marking
- NFC tags
Digital authentication
- Mobile verification
- Blockchain-based authentication
- Real-time product movement data
- Overt and covert feature integration
Sectors
Trace Core's marking and verification work covers the categories most commonly targeted by counterfeiters, including those where a fake carries a health risk as well as a financial one.
- Pharmaceuticals
- Agricultural supplies
- Beverages
- General consumer products
Who we work with
- Government ministries and public sector agencies
- Revenue authorities, for digital tax stamps covering authentication and excise duties
- Financial institutions and banks
- Educational institutions requiring verifiable certificates
- Medium to large commercial enterprises
Considering a stamp programme, or reviewing one that is already running?
Tell us what the programme has to achieve and which constraints it sits inside. We will tell you what it would take.