Bayer CapSeal protects against counterfeit crop protection products

Bayer has developed a new cap seal to protect users against counterfeit crop protection products. The Bayer CapSeal, based on the Trustseal technology of the Leonhard Kurz Stiftung, is a cap seal with visual security features and a QR code. Scanning the code with the interactive smartphone app from Bayer gives the user important information about the authenticity of the product. The CapSeal is currently being introduced at all of Bayer’s European production sites for crop protection products.

 

“Bayer is working with farmers, retailers and the authorities to resolutely tackle product counterfeiting,” says Dr. Hans-Joachim Henn, Global Head of Anti-Counterfeit Management at Bayer. “Innovative packaging technologies like the Trustseal visual security element from the Leonhard Kurz Stiftung provide users with important information about the authenticity of Bayer products and thus help prevent the use of counterfeit products.” The proportion of counterfeit products in the crop protection market has increased globally. According to a 2015 study commissioned by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, approximately 10 percent of all crop protection products in Europe are counterfeits. 

 

Bayer’s CapSeal app is available free of charge to customers and can be downloaded in a few simple steps from the https://capseal.bayer.com/ website in the respective national language. 

 

After installing the app, customers use the integrated camera on their smartphones to read the QR code on the CapSeal. The code is automatically compared with an online database to confirm its authenticity. The customer receives reliable information about the authenticity of the scanned QR code within a matter of seconds and thus important information about the authenticity of the product. If the code cannot be clearly authenticated and confirmed, the product is most likely counterfeit. In that case, the customer can contact a Bayer employee directly by e-mail via the app.

 

At the beginning of 2016, Bayer started to apply the new Cap Seal to all of its crop protection products manufactured in Europe. Customers in all European countries now have access to this new technology which will help protect them against the risks associated with counterfeit crop protection products.