A HIGH-TECH York firm has confirmed its status as the organisation at the forefront of the world's fight against brand and product fraudsters.

Zambia has now joined three other African governments in employing Biotech, of Dunnington Business Park, York, to thwart fuel smugglers.

Biotech, which uses the chemistry of life to create testing kits for invisible product marking, has so far helped the Kenyan, Ugandan and Tanzanian governments recover more than $100 million in fuel taxes per year.

By preparing antibodies which recognise only certain key molecules, Biotech's technology apes the process by which human beings respond to germs.

Inspectors' detection tests can establish within five minutes whether markers added to the fuel at distribution depots are present or have been diluted.

The announcement that Zambia has now employed Biotech in its fight against fuel smugglers comes as Biocode signs a formal co-operation agreement with SGS (Societe Generale de Surveillance SA).

SGS, which provides a global service in international trade for agriculture, minerals, petroleum and consumer products, provides inspectors on the ground at fuel depots, at border controls and at specific laboratories to use and verify the Biotech process, then enforce it through the local police.

Now this courtship between Biotech technology and those who make it work has been cemented in marriage.

John Davies, chief executive of Biocode, said: "Suddenly we have gone from using a contractor to launching a joint marketing venture which is bound to expand the range and extent of our markers, already present in leading pharmaceutical brands and used by major distillers in the UK."

Now they would jointly extend the business model into new market sectors including tobacco, pharmaceuticals, wines and spirits, packaging and other areas where the technology can be used to protect government revenues, the consumer and brand owners.

"The key to success in our business is being able to demonstrate value recovery to clients. Therefore, the addition of SGS's field-testing and inspection expertise to Biocode's proprietary marking and product-tracking systems will provide a very powerful and effective combination that is unique in the industry and which has proved that it can deliver real and sustainable value to clients."

The Biocode-SGS agreement comes in the wake of the York company receiving the 2001 Innovation prize from the Petroleum Institute of East Africa.

Dr Yves Dusonchet, SGS chief executive for Africa and the Middle East, said: "After extensive investigation of the available marking technology, we selected Biocode as having the most effective covert marking technology and reliable tracing solutions, with a proven track record of applications."

Updated: 09:56 Tuesday, April 09, 2002