Measures for the Administration of Digital Printing" to Take Effect on February 1

The Measures for the Administration of Digital Printing were published recently and will take effect on February 1, 2011. On January 11, the General Administration of Press and Publication issued the Notice on Printing and Distributing the Measures for the Administration of Digital Printing, requiring local press and publication bureaus to comply.

In recent years, digital printing has expanded rapidly in Western countries, and China's emerging digital printing market has also gradually taken shape. Because digital printing has different technical and market characteristics compared with other printing categories, some new situations, new circumstances and new problems have emerged during the maturation of its market. In order to regulate digital printing business activities and promote the healthy development of digital printing, the General Administration investigated and analyzed the actual situation of the current printing market and, in accordance with the Regulations on the Administration of Publication, the Regulations on the Administration of the Printing Industry and other relevant laws and regulations, issued the Measures for the Administration of Digital Printing.

The Measures consist of four chapters — General Provisions, Enterprise Establishment, Management of Business Activities and Legal Liability — with a total of 23 articles. They govern "business activities that use production-type digital printing machines to print publications, packaging and decorative printed materials and other printed materials," while "production using high-speed digital multifunction machine-type equipment" is not included.

The Measures set the minimum hardware requirements for digital printing enterprises as follows: a fixed production and operating site with a building area of 50 square meters; registered capital of RMB 1 million; and 1 production-type digital printing machine. For chain operations, they must consist of more than 5 chain stores and have registered capital of no less than RMB 5 million. In light of the business characteristics of digital printing, such as short-run and personalized production and small, intelligent equipment, these provisions have greatly lowered the entry threshold that originally applied to printing enterprises.

Enterprises that were already engaged in digital printing business activities before the Measures took effect must, within 180 days starting from February 1 of this year, complete the relevant procedures with the provincial-level press and publication administrative department. Current enterprises that conduct digital printing business activities within their originally approved business scope are exempt from going through digital printing approval procedures, whereas those conducting digital printing business activities beyond their originally approved business scope must go through approval procedures.

— This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362157.html