Ouagadougou: Public structures involved in the fight against fraud received control kits from KAPEO SA on Friday to verify the authenticity, monitoring, and traceability of tobacco products manufactured in Burkina Faso or imported, in order to strengthen the fight against the illicit tobacco trade which costs the State billions.

According to Burkina Information Agency, Rabin Goro, the General Manager of KAPEO SA, stated that the kits include smartphones capable of scanning the stickers affixed to packets, cartridges, and cartons of tobacco sold in Burkina Faso. "These devices allow us to scan codes in order to obtain the information sought by the authorities, to authenticate products and to ensure their traceability in the markets," he explained.

In addition to smartphones, documents containing essential information on the operation of SMAT were given to participants. The beneficiaries of this training come from several public bodies involved in the fight against fraud and illicit trade. These include Customs, the Mobile Brigade for Economic Control and Fraud Repression (BMCRF), the National Coordination for the Fight Against Fraud (CNLF), the National Committee for the Fight Against Drugs (CNLD), the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI), and the Anti-Tobacco Coordination.

This handover of equipment follows a capacity-building session for stakeholders on the Marking, Authentication, Tracking, and Traceability System (MATS). The training focused on tobacco product control mechanisms and techniques for verifying their authenticity. As a reminder, the system for marking, authenticating, monitoring, and tracing tobacco products and new tobacco products manufactured in Burkina Faso or imported was established on December 26, 2025.

The SMAT aims to modernize tobacco product control mechanisms, secure state tax revenues, and reduce illicit trade in the tobacco sector in Burkina Faso. The representative of the participants, Laurent Kinda, welcomed a training which, according to him, will allow agents to become more efficient in their control missions. 'Previously, our checks were done mainly by eye and consisted mainly of checking for the presence of stickers on the products. With these tools, we will be able to carry out more in-depth checks to verify the origin, quality, and authenticity of the products,' he said.