✓Tender information last checkedLast checked 14 Oct 2026, 16:26.
Opportunity overview
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.
Classification
CPV48000000 — Software package and information systems
CPV72314000 — Data collection and collation services
CPV79999100 — Scanning services
Lots
Lot 1Value not stated
Documents and notices
Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a TenderOpen source ↗
Published notice details
Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.
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.
Due
30 Oct 2026, 23:59
Status
scheduled
Documents
Entry 1
Id
097116-2026
Document Type
marketEngagementNotice
Notice Type
UK2
Description
Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Buyer location · London · UKI32 · SW1A 2BQ · United Kingdom
Delivery location · UK · United Kingdom
Notice and amendment history
2 published notice versions reviewed by ProcuraAxis.
2 VERSIONS
1
081587-2026Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender ·
2
097116-2026Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ·
PROCURAAXIS ANALYSIS
ProcuraAxis Analysis
Our approved analysis of the opportunity appears below the official tender information.
ANALYSIS PREVIEW
Opportunity intelligence at a glance
Early-stage market engagement for HMRC’s planned replacement UK Tobacco Track and Trace concession. HMRC is seeking interest ahead of a possible single-supplier contract for an end-to-end national tobacco traceability system; this notice does not confirm that bidding is open.
Who this may suit
Potential fit for providers able to deliver tobacco-product identification and secure traceability-data routing and repository services at UK national scale. Detailed operational, technical, security, performance and transition requirements remain to be defined.
Key points identified
End-to-end track and trace serviceExpected delivery of an end-to-end Tobacco Track and Trace service.Evidence: “The provider's main responsibilities are expected to include delivery of an end to end Tobacco Track and Trace service”
Unique identifier assignmentExpected ID issuer service for tobacco products manufactured in or imported into the UK.Evidence: “an ID issuer service, to ensure tobacco products manufactured in or imported into the UK are assigned a unique identifier”
Traceability data repositoryExpected secure service to receive, validate, store and make traceability data available.Evidence: “a data routing and repository service, to securely receive, validate, store and make available traceability data”
93% approved-analysis confidence5 supplier criteria identified4 risks or unknowns
ProcuraAxis structures information found in published procurement records, checks the result for consistency and publishes only approved analysis. Confidence describes the completeness and consistency of the available source information; it is not a guarantee of eligibility or contract award.
Early-stage market engagement for HMRC’s planned replacement UK Tobacco Track and Trace concession. HMRC is seeking interest ahead of a possible single-supplier contract for an end-to-end national tobacco traceability system; this notice does not confirm that bidding is open.
Who this may suit
Potential fit for providers able to deliver tobacco-product identification and secure traceability-data routing and repository services at UK national scale. Detailed operational, technical, security, performance and transition requirements remain to be defined.
Key deliverables
ID issuer service assigning unique identifiers to tobacco products manufactured in or imported into the UK
Secure data routing and repository service to receive, validate, store and make traceability data available to HMRC and authorised authorities
Support for UK-wide operation, including specific Northern Ireland arrangements
SUPPLIER REQUIREMENTS
5 criteria identified
End-to-end track and trace service
98% confidence
Expected delivery of an end-to-end Tobacco Track and Trace service.
View supporting evidence
“The provider's main responsibilities are expected to include delivery of an end to end Tobacco Track and Trace service”
Unique identifier assignment
98% confidence
Expected ID issuer service for tobacco products manufactured in or imported into the UK.
View supporting evidence
“an ID issuer service, to ensure tobacco products manufactured in or imported into the UK are assigned a unique identifier”
Traceability data repository
98% confidence
Expected secure service to receive, validate, store and make traceability data available.
View supporting evidence
“a data routing and repository service, to securely receive, validate, store and make available traceability data”
Legislative compliance
94% confidence
Service is expected to meet applicable UK and international legislative requirements.
View supporting evidence
“meet applicable UK and international legislative requirements”
Supplier eligibility requirements
99% confidence
Unknown at this market-engagement stage.
View supporting evidence
No eligibility criteria are stated in the supplied notice content.
COMMERCIAL AND DELIVERY
Contract intelligence
Commercial
Contract model
98% confidence
Concession contract; costs are expected to be recovered from industry users rather than HMRC.
View supporting evidence
“The contract will be awarded under a concession model, with costs recovered from industry users rather than HMRC.”
Anticipated duration
94% confidence
Up to five years.
View supporting evidence
“The intention is to award a concession contract with an anticipated duration of up to five years.”
Published maximum value
92% confidence
£5,500,000.
View supporting evidence
Source field value_max: 5500000 GBP.
Delivery
Geographic coverage
96% confidence
United Kingdom, with specific Northern Ireland arrangements.
View supporting evidence
“The UK system operates as a standalone national system and must also support specific arrangements for Northern Ireland”
Scale
96% confidence
National scale with high-volume transactional data.
View supporting evidence
“The service is expected to operate at national scale, support high volume transactional data”
Detailed delivery arrangements
98% confidence
Unknown; HMRC may further define operational, technical, performance, security and transition arrangements.
View supporting evidence
“HMRC may refine and further define the detailed requirements during the procurement process”
PROCEDURE
How to respond
Notice status
99% confidence
Upcoming planned preliminary market engagement; bidding is not confirmed as open.
View supporting evidence
Display status: “upcoming”; stage: “planning”; notice type: “Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender”.
2026-11-30T23:59:59Z; applicability to this market-engagement notice is unclear.
View supporting evidence
Source field submission_deadline: 2026-11-30T23:59:59Z.
RISKS AND UNKNOWNS
Points requiring attention
Early-stage scope uncertainty
98% confidence
Detailed requirements may change during the procurement process.
View supporting evidence
“HMRC may refine and further define the detailed requirements during the procurement process”
Date ambiguity
99% confidence
The stated existing-contract expiry, “the end of October 27”, does not state a year and is ambiguous.
View supporting evidence
“The existing contract is expected to expire at the end of October 27”
Procedure and deadline interpretation
96% confidence
The supplied record labels this as preliminary market engagement and upcoming, while also publishing open/competitive-flexible procedure metadata and a submission deadline. The applicability of those fields to a future tender is not established by the supplied evidence.
View supporting evidence
Notice type: “Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender”; display status: “upcoming”; procurement metadata and submission_deadline fields.
Concession revenue risk
95% confidence
Costs are expected to be recovered from industry users, but charging, volume and revenue arrangements are not stated.
View supporting evidence
“costs recovered from industry users rather than HMRC”
ProcuraAxis analysis supplements, but does not replace, the original notice and tender documents. Always verify eligibility, deadlines and commercial terms with the issuing authority.
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