Globalisation of trade and international business creates new markets for branded products but it also gives the counterfeiter opportunities. The trade in counterfeit goods now accounts for 2.5% of world trade. For a brand owner the copying of a product may seriously damage a brand’s image and this may be expensive to repair. However, much more serious is when such activity is applied to pharmaceuticals, currency or passports. Then it becomes a matter of life and death or of national security.
Although today more and more commercial transactions are made electronically, as long as the traded product is a physical one then usually there is packaging and labelling required. This is not only to identify the contents of a package but also for the purposes of tracking its progress from factory to end user. For security documents whatever the substrate, there is a necessity for a range of security features and our pigments can be a part of the solution to prove authenticity.