SMARTRAC ships 10th million ePassport inlay and is the world’s largest supplier for electronic passports

• Growing popularity of ePassports: worldwide introduction of ePassports
accelerated by US regulations coming into effect on 26 October
• SMARTRAC is the inventor of inlays for electronic passports and already
supplies its products to 20 countries, including the United States as largest
ePassport market

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Amsterdam, 9 October 2006. SMARTRAC, the inventor of inlays for
electronic passports, is the first company worldwide to ship more
than ten million ePassport inlays to its customers. SMARTRAC is the
world’s largest supplier of inlays for ePassports and is benefiting
from the accelerating introduction of electronic passports. The
company has been listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock
Exchange since 20 July 2006, and recently registered DURASOFT® as a
trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office. DURASOFT® is a
novel multi-layer inlay material specially developed for ePassports.

"We are ideally positioned for the coming boom in electronic
passports, and we are setting standards with our high-security
technology," said Manfred Rietzler, CEO of SMARTRAC N.V. "With that,
we play a key role in the development of this growth market, and are
constantly expanding our capacities in the field of ePassport inlays
so that we can satisfy strong global demand." According to a recent
forecast by market analysts Frost & Sullivan, around 50 million
ePassports/ ID-Cards will be in circulation by 2007.

20 countries already rely on SMARTRAC inlay products for their
ePassport programs. That includes the US ePassport program, which is
now starting. SMARTRAC Inlay products have been certified for this
program since 2004.

The worldwide introduction of ePassports will now be additionally
accelerated by the US authorities’ regulations on visa-waiving
countries. According to these regulations, the 27 countries whose
citizens can enter the United States without a visa will have to
start introducing electronic passports by 26 October this year at the
latest.

SMARTRAC’s ePassport inlays are a key component of the new ePassports
and enable data storage and contactless data transfer. "The
technology we have developed offers solutions for all passport
programs currently in existence," said Rietzler. SMARTRAC supplies
high-quality ePassport inlays in the paper-like Durasoft® material
and also in paper and textile fabric.

On 16 August 2006, SMARTRAC reported that this year’s first-half
revenues (January to June) nearly doubled compared with the same
period of 2005, to EUR 22.5 million, while first-half earnings (Group
EBITDA) more than tripled to EUR 4.7 million. The company has been
profitable every year since it was founded.

About SMARTRAC N.V. SMARTRAC is a leading supplier of inlays for
contactless credit cards (ePayment) and passports with integrated
contactless chips (ePassports). The company, which was founded in
2000, is incorporated under Dutch law and has its head office in
Amsterdam. SMARTRAC has its main production and R&D centre in Bangkok
(Thailand), as well as sales offices in Stuttgart and Singapore.
Through an agreement with Xytec Solutions (Kulim, Malaysia), in which
SMARTRAC holds a 30% stake, the company has exclusive access to
proprietary manufacturing equipment. In two product segments -
Standard and High Security - SMARTRAC manufactures components for
RFID applications in public transport, access control and logistics,
as well as in the high-security applications of ePayment and
ePassports.

end of announcement euro adhoc 09.10.2006 14:23:26
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ots Originaltext: SMARTRAC N.V.
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:
Max Hohenberg
Media Relations SMARTRAC N.V.
Tel: +49 711 6569 2616
Email: max.hohenberg@smartrac-group.com

Branche: Technology
ISIN: NL0000186633
WKN: A0JEHN
Börsen: Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / official dealing/prime standard
Börse Berlin-Bremen / free trade
Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / free trade
Bayerische Börse / free trade