Provision for a Tobacco Track and Trace System

What the buyer is asking for

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.

How this is scored

Published by the buyer. A winning response is written to these weightings, not to the question.

• 65%qualityTechnical / QualityCriteria will be weighted, with full details set out in the tender documents at the appropriate procurement stage
• 15%qualityTechnical DemonstrationCriteria will be weighted, with full details set out in the tender documents at the appropriate procurement stage
• 20%costCostCriteria will be weighted, with full details set out in the tender documents at the appropriate procurement stage

What you must already have

Conditions of participation. These are pass or fail, so check them before writing anything.

• economic

  Full details will be set out in the tender documents at the appropriate procurement stage

• technical

  Full details will be set out in the tender documents at the appropriate procurement stage

How contested is this?

Buyers publish how many bids they received. Across 15 comparable procurements we can tell you the typical field size, how often one of these goes uncontested, and whether the buyer awards on price or on quality.

Timeline

4 published dates · Europe/London

1. Tender notice published26 days ago

   27 Aug 2026, 09:19 BST
2. Clarification questions byin 46 days

   6 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
3. Submission deadlinein 70 days

   30 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
4. Award decision expected byin 165 days

   5 Mar 2027, 23:59 GMT

Commercial outcome and contract awards

Nothing awarded yet

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender

1. Pipeline or early engagement notice27 Aug 2026, 09:19 BST081587-2026

Payment terms

Full details will be set out in the tender documents at the appropriate procurement stage