PANAJI
The government has notified the Goa Excise Duty (Amendment) Rules, 2026, mandating high-security excise adhesive labels on all liquor bottles sold in the State in a bid to curb smuggling, counterfeiting and other illegalities.
Under the amended rules, manufacturers, bottling units and registered importers are required to affix tamper-evident, non-reusable labels embedded with unique serial numbers and QR or Data Matrix codes linked to an electronic track-and-trace system.
As per the notification, manufacturers must affix the labels during working hours in the joint presence of the Excise Officer and their authorised representative. Importers may undertake affixation either at the exporting source or at their warehouse or licensed premises in Goa. No liquor bottle can be cleared without the mandatory label.
The rules have empowered the Commissioner to implement the system in phases, grant exemptions to specified categories, link the labels to duty assessment and fee collection through electronic systems and integrate Deposit Refund Scheme (DRS) data within the QR or Data Matrix code.
