Financial Times

Top colour printers to be permitted
Ban over counterfeiting fears, to be reversed
By Duruthu Edirimuni
Sri Lankan computer vendors have been able to reverse a government ban on high-resolution inkjet colour printers - commonly used in offices and homes - but would have to confirm to new regulations in the import and sale process. The ban was imposed after fears that high quality printers could be used to print counterfeit currency.

The Ministry of Public Security Law and Order, following a discussion with the Central Bank, CID and representatives of the Sri Lanka Computer Vendors Association on Tuesday, agreed to allow these printers subject to import conditions.

The new rules specify that importers should submit a 'track' record of the vendors they have dealt and deal with and in turn the vendors have to give details of their customers who have bought the colour printers, industry officials said.

Niranjan de Silva, CEO, Metropolitan Computers, involved in Tuesday's meeting said, "The ministry will reconsider this restriction together with the CID and will lift the ban subject to certain registration procedures by the importers." He said the authorities have mapped these out and are awaiting the minister's approval. Central Bank sources said the new rules on imports would be ready next week.

Last month, the ministry ordered Customs to disallow colour printers of over 2400 DPI (dots per inch) into the country after the CID said there was a high risk of such printers being used to printed bogus currency notes.

The Customs then withheld three consignments of colour printers with 4800 DPI imported by the Metropolitan Group, Debug Computers and DMS. These importers only knew about the directive after Customs contacted them.

Director-General Customs, Sarath Jayatilake said Customs has been advised by the ministry not to allow high resolution printing machines of over 2400 DPI into the country. "We have held back three consignments of less than 50 printers in all, belonging to various models, imported by different manufacturers."

He agreed that it was unfair to ban these items without proper prior notification to the importers, but said, "That is why we have not penalised them." He said since the Ministry had decided that they were a threat to national security, the Customs had to comply with their decision. "The security of the country has to be looked after, and everything else is secondary," he said, adding that Customs has asked the importers of these printers to send them back to the suppliers or to re-ship them to another destination. "They don't have a way of clearing them at the moment, so we have advised them of these options," he said. However, the Sri Lanka Computer Vendors Association (SLCVA) has urged Customs to release the consignments saying the importers will conform to the conditions discussed at Tuesday's meeting. Jayatilake said the matter was under review.

SLCVA Executive Director, David Dominic said any image on a printer is cleared with dots. "The higher the amount of DPI, the better the quality and the clarity of the reproduced image from an inkjet printer," he said. He added that the 2400 DPI standard fixed by the CID as 'high' is arbitrary because presently 4800 DPI is the entry level of all colour printers into the market.

He said colour inkjet printers are mostly used in homes and also in offices. The inkjet printers had started with DPI's of 600, then 1200 DPI, 2400 DPI and the latest inkjet printer with 4800 DPI has come to the market. Major brands in inkjet printers are Hewlett Packard (HP), Epson, Lexmark and Canon.

Association President, Muhunthan Canagasooryam said printer technology starts today with 4800 DPI and banning them will be depriving the public of superior technology. "4800 DPI is fast becoming a standard in printers, because all printer models have this as a feature," he said.

He said that colour printers have not been banned anywhere in the world for any reason including counterfeiting fears. Presently there are about 150,000 inkjet printers of 2400 DPI in the market and about 25,000 in 4800 DPI.

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