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Provision of the UK Tobacco Track and Trace System

H M Revenue & Customs

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

Planning

14 Oct 2026 at 15:14

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

27 Aug 2026 at 09:19

UK3 - Planned Procurement Notice
PlanningUpdate

18 Aug 2025 at 08:46

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Planning

11 Aug 2025 at 09:28

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Summary of the contracting process

HM Revenue & Customs plans to replace the UK’s existing tobacco track-and-trace service with a national system covering tobacco products manufactured in or imported into the United Kingdom. The service is intended to support the World Health Organization Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, including arrangements for Northern Ireland. The supplier is expected to provide an end-to-end service: issuing unique identifiers for tobacco products, and securely receiving, validating, storing and making traceability data available to HMRC and other authorised authorities. This is a digital data and software service, including data collection and routing. It must support high-volume transactions and operate as a standalone national system. The contract is intended to be awarded to one supplier under a concession model, with costs recovered from industry users rather than HMRC.

This is at the planning stage: HMRC has announced its intention to procure but has not yet invited tenders. It is conducting preliminary market engagement, including sharing a draft technical specification for supplier feedback and clarification questions; participation does not form part of the later tender evaluation. HMRC expects to launch the next notice on 19 October 2026. The planned two-stage competitive flexible procedure comprises a tender and a technical demonstration. The buyer expects tender submissions by 30 November 2026, questions by 6 November 2026, and an award decision by 5 March 2027. The anticipated contract runs from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2032, with possible extension to 31 March 2034. Estimated value is £5.5 million excluding VAT (£6.6 million including VAT). Quality is weighted at 65%, demonstration at 15% and cost at 20%.

This is likely to suit a supplier able to design, operate and transition a secure, high-availability digital traceability platform at national scale. Relevant strengths include issuing unique identifiers, processing high volumes of transactional data, secure data routing and repository services, and making validated records accessible to government authorities. Suppliers should be prepared to demonstrate technical capability and provide evidence of economic and technical capacity; the specific selection requirements are to be set out during the formal procurement. The service must meet applicable UK and international legislative requirements, support the Northern Ireland arrangements, and manage operational, security, performance and transition requirements as they are defined. A supplier’s commercial model must also accommodate a concession in which costs are recovered from tobacco industry users, rather than paid by HMRC. The procurement is intended for a single provider.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Provision of the UK Tobacco Track and Trace System

Notice Description

HMRC intend to award a concession contract to a single supplier for the United Kingdom's Tobacco Track and Trace system, in support of the World Health Organization Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. The UK currently has a supplier providing services to enable the continued tracking and tracing of tobacco products manufactured in or imported into the UK. The existing contract is expected to expire at the end of October 27, and HMRC intends to appoint a supplier to deliver the service on a replacement basis. The purpose of this Notice is to alert interested parties and gain interest. The intention is to award a concession contract with an anticipated duration of up to five years. The UK ratified the WHO Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products in 2018. The Protocol requires parties to implement an effective traceability system for tobacco products manufactured in or imported into their territory, taking account of regional specific requirements and international best practice. The UK system operates as a standalone national system and must also support specific arrangements for Northern Ireland in accordance with the Northern Ireland Protocol. The provider's main responsibilities are expected to include delivery of an end to end Tobacco Track and Trace service, including: - an ID issuer service, to ensure tobacco products manufactured in or imported into the UK are assigned a unique identifier; and - a data routing and repository service, to securely receive, validate, store and make available traceability data relating to tobacco products, accessible to HMRC and other authorised authorities. The service is expected to operate at national scale, support high volume transactional data, and meet applicable UK and international legislative requirements. The contract will be awarded under a concession model, with costs recovered from industry users rather than HMRC. HMRC may refine and further define the detailed requirements during the procurement process, including operational, technical, performance, security, and transition arrangements.

Planning Information

HMRC intends to launch a procurement for the provision of the UK Tobacco Track and Trace system. Ahead of the formal procurement, HMRC is undertaking a preliminary market engagement exercise and is making a draft version of the technical specification available to potential suppliers. The purpose of this exercise is to give potential suppliers an opportunity to review and understand the draft requirements, raise clarification questions and provide feedback on specific areas identified by HMRC. This is a market engagement/RFI exercise only. It is not the formal procurement and is not a consultation on HMRC's intended approach. 1. Central Digital Platform Suppliers wishing to participate in public procurement opportunities are required to register on the Government's Central Digital Platform (CDP), which is provided through Find a Tender. The CDP enables suppliers to submit and maintain their core supplier information and share it with contracting authorities when participating in procurement opportunities. Registration is free and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/find-tender Suppliers should ensure that their information is kept up to date and shared with HMRC as required. 2. Accessing the market engagement exercise through SAP Ariba This market engagement/RFI exercise will be conducted through HMRC's SAP Ariba eSourcing Portal. Suppliers wishing to access the draft technical specification, submit clarification questions and provide a response to the RFI will therefore need to be registered on HMRC's SAP Ariba eSourcing Portal. If you are not already registered, please use the following registration link:http://hmrc.sourcing-eu.ariba.com/ad/selfRegistration As part of the registration process, you will receive a system-generated email asking you to activate your SAP Ariba supplier account by verifying your email address. Once you have completed the activation process, you will receive a further email confirming that the registration process is complete and providing your organisation's account ID. If you do not receive an email response from HMRC within one working day of your request, please first check your spam or junk folder. If you have still not received a response, please contact: sapariba.hmrcsupport@hmrc.gov.uk Please confirm when your original registration request was made. Once you have received your organisation's HMRC SAP Ariba account ID, please email: sophie.hodgson1@hmrc.gov.uk & catherine.moore3@hmrc.gov.uk and copy: e.procurement@hmrc.gov.uk Please provide the following information: Contract title and reference Your organisation's HMRC SAP Ariba account ID Your organisation's name Your name Your email address Your telephone number Once this information has been received, you will be provided with access to the market engagement/RFI event in SAP Ariba. If you are already registered on SAP Ariba, you may still need to register with HMRC's SAP Ariba eSourcing Portal in order to be added to this event. Further information about HMRC's SAP Ariba procurement system, including supplier guidance and general information about supplying to HMRC, is available at: https://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/supplying.htm Participation in this market engagement exercise does not form part of any subsequent tender evaluation.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0584cc
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/097116-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

48 - Software package and information systems

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

CPV Codes

48000000 - Software package and information systems

72314000 - Data collection and collation services

79999100 - Scanning services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£5,500,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£5,500,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
14 Oct 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
19 Oct 2026Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Apr 2027 - 1 Apr 2032 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planned
Lots Status
Planned
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
H M Revenue & Customs
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1A 2BQ
Postcode Area
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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