Track & Trace launched. What does it mean for you?

On May 20, 2024, the European Commission's Regulation on the tracking of tobacco products (Track & Trace system) was expanded to include tobacco for hookahs, among other things. This regulation will impact all parts of the hookah tobacco supply chain, from the manufacturer to the so-called first retail outlet, regardless of its type (e.g., tobacco shop, shisha lounge, online shop), meaning the first place in the chain where a consumer can purchase a tobacco product.

All hookah tobacco produced or imported into the EU after May 20, 2024, must be marked with a unique code by manufacturers and importers. Wholesale distributors are obliged to monitor the movement of these products and report the sale electronically before dispatch from the warehouse. More information regarding the obligations of wholesale distributors can be found at www.szpi.gov.cz/clanek/tabakove-vyrobky-sledovatelnost-tabakovych-vyrobku-povinnosti-kontrolovanych-osob.aspx.

Retail sellers will no longer monitor purchases or sales. However, retail sellers are required to register each outlet. By registering, you will receive at least two codes: the economic entity code EO_ID (i.e., your company code) and the outlet code F_ID (i.e., your outlet code). If you have multiple outlets, you need to obtain device codes for all of them.

The registrar of economic entities for the Czech Republic is the State Printing Office of Securities (STC). More detailed information about registration can be found at www.stc.cz/produkty/track-trace/. Please provide us with these codes, including the addresses of the outlets (devices), via the form we have prepared for you.

Without knowledge of the identification codes of the customer, products marked in this way cannot be delivered to the final sales point after May 20, 2024.

This requirement does not apply to goods that were manufactured in the EU or imported into the EU before May 20, 2024, and they can remain in free circulation until May 20, 2026.

However, we would like to assure you that we have created a certain stock of hookah tobacco without T&T, so for some time you will still be able to purchase these tobaccos from us as you are used to. We tentatively plan to gradually start distributing the first tobaccos in the T&T regime during July.

To ensure you have everything available, we recommend that you register with the STC as soon as possible and subsequently fill out the form to provide us with the acquired codes.