China's Six New Printing Machinery Standards Take Effect May 1: Flexible Packaging Points to Watch

Since China joined the WTO, locally built printing machinery has faced mounting competition from overseas brands. Statistics cited in the industry put domestic printing equipment's share of the Chinese market at just 30%–40%. For that share—and for product competitiveness at home—to grow, technical performance and safety must improve. Yet China's printing machinery still trails other countries by a clear margin in both technology and quality. That is why using standards as a lever to lift quality and technical capability has long been a shared industry demand.

Beginning May 1 this year, six new printing machinery industry standards enter formal implementation. They are: 'Printing Machinery — Paper Laminating Machine', 'Printing Machinery — Web-Fed Gravure Printing Machine', 'Printing Machinery — Longitudinal Slitting Machine', 'Printing Machinery — Platen Die-Cutting Machine Part 1: Horizontal Platen Die-Cutting Machine', 'Printing Machinery — Folding Machine' and 'Special Printing — Hot Stamping Machine'.

These six standards were developed or revised by the National Technical Committee for Printing Machinery Standardization and are recommended industry standards. At the end of November 2006, the National Development and Reform Commission approved and issued the 'Numbers, Names and Starting Implementation Dates of 124 Machinery Industry Standards'; items 80 through 85 are printing machinery industry standards.

The secretary-general of the National Technical Committee for Printing Machinery Standardization explained that among the six, 'Special Printing — Hot Stamping Machine' is newly drafted, while the other five upgrade existing standards. Those older standards had been in effect for 8 to 16 years. Under the usual 3-to-5-year revision cycle, all were due for review. In addition, domestic printing equipment's technology and manufacturing capabilities have genuinely advanced in recent years, prompting the committee to revise the five standards.

In his assessment, the release of these standards will help improve the quality of domestically produced printing machinery and increase its share of the domestic market. He also noted that before the end of this year, the National Technical Committee for Printing Machinery Standardization will introduce several more printing machinery standards.

—This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn), original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362330.html