by Nobleman Runyanga

The Statutory Instrument 64 (SI64) of July 2016, which outlawed the importation of goods and services that could be produced locally, was and continues to be a blessing for the local printing industry.

 This was revealed during the 2018 edition of the Harare Agricultural Show last week.

A National Printing and Packaging (NatPrint) employee, who chose anonymity, told the Harare Post that prior to the issuing of the SI, most manufacturers were using foreign printers from China, India and South Africa whose charges were lower than local printers.

“The enactment of the SI was a major game changer. It saw some of our former customers coming back not just to us but to fellow players in the industry as well in compliance with the law,” he said.

The change also forced printing customer companies to shop around for new printers which benefitted large industrial printers such as Natprint, Printworks and Paragon among others which assure quality and capacity.

“The instrument forced some customers to re-assess their options and suppliers, which helped us to land business from big companies given our capacity to deliver quality and on time,” he said.

The printing company, whose customer portfolio includes major manufacturers such as Cairns Foods, Delta Beverages and Schweppes Zimbabwe, has realised increased business as a result of the law, which was put in place to protect the local industry from cheap imports.

“Since that time we have registered quite some measure of business and our client base has grown. With the advent of the new dispensation, we are expecting better fortunes as the economy turns around,” the NatPrint employee said.

The industry also benefitted from other Government policies such as the banning of the use of kaylite packaging material by the food industry which was enforced by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) in July 2017 through the activation of Statutory Instrument 84 of 2012 (Plastic Packaging and Plastic Bottles) (Amendment) Regulations, 2012 (No 1.) citing health and environmental concerns.

“The fast food industry had over the years moved from paper packaging to kaylite shutting us out of that industry’s supply chain. The activation of SI84 of 2012 did not give the food industry much time to come up with alternatives except for exhausting their kaylite stocks. This saw them inundating us and other printers with orders as they sought to avert loss of business and ensure compliance.

“For weeks on end, our printing plant ran non-stop to meet their orders. Although customers are free to move their custom from one printer to another, we have retained most of our customers since then,” said the employee.

Although the Natprint representative could not disclose figures, he indicated that the future of the industry was bright.