The Parliament has supported in the second reading and in general the draft law No. 8287, which provides for the introduction of an electronic excise stamp and the creation of a digital traceability system, eExcise. 252 MPs voted in favour of the bill.

“Every year, Ukraine loses billions of hryvnias due to the shadow tobacco and alcohol market. In 2022, one in five packs of cigarettes and one in three bottles of alcohol was sold illegally. Excise evasion not only causes losses, it also fuels corruption and contraband. The creation of the eExcise traceability system will strengthen control over the turnover of tobacco and alcohol and save billions of hryvnias that will go to the defence of the state rather than the grey market,” said Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology Development and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.

The introduction of the eExcise electronic system using the Track & Trace technology will make it possible to track the movement of all tobacco and alcohol products. In this way, the state will have complete information on the entire supply chain and will be able to analyse the quantities that reach the shelves.

Every product will have an electronic excise stamp with a two-dimensional DataMatrix code. Producers and importers will be able to generate this themselves in the eExcise digital traceability system and apply it to every bottle of alcohol or pack of cigarettes.

Consumers will be able to verify that they are not buying counterfeit goods. To do this, they will need to scan the electronic excise stamp using the Diia app and check:

• the name;
• the manufacturer;
• the place of production;
• the store where the product is sold;
• the marking code, which can be checked against the marking on the stamp;
• the status of the electronic excise stamp.

In the event of any discrepancies, anyone will be able to notify the state via Diia in one click.

One of the biggest anti-corruption steps of the eExcise will be the mandatory labelling of excisable alcohol and tobacco products for duty free. According to Kantar Ukraine, more than half of the total illegal tobacco market in Ukraine in 2022 was accounted for by products labelled Duty Free or intended for export. As a result, the Ukrainian budget lost UAH 11.2 billion last year alone.

When drafting the law, we took into account the main European standards for labelling and controlling the movement of tobacco products. This will allow our manufacturers to integrate harmoniously into the EU market and expand their business opportunities after Ukraine joins the European Union.

The electronic excise stamp and traceability system will be launched in Ukraine in January 2026.

The eExcise project is being implemented by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, jointly with the Ministry of Finance and the State Tax Service, with the support of the USAID / UK aid Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services / TAPAS Project.