In an interview with the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), referring to the lack of codifying laws and regulations in the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, Seyed Hossein Salehi said, “A large number of owners of printing houses who have purchased new machines and machinery are worried about their investments they have made and the huge costs they have incurred because most of these machines need to remain in customs until the new laws are drawn up.”

Referring to assigning a part of the authorities of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade, he said, “The assignment has been carried out without creating the required infrastructure and legal backgrounds, and the Chemical and Cellulose Bureau of the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade still does not have a solution to the problems of this field.”

Salehi added, “In recent weeks, numerous of print house owners who had placed oders for new or second-hand machines go in touch with the Association office and asked for a solution to clear their machinery from customs, but unfortunately no solution has been foreseen so far.”

Stating that assigning the authorities of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to the Ministry of Industry was unexpectedly, he continued, “I think a suitable scheduled period should have been considered for the implementation and the completion of the process based on which the owners of print houses could have planned, as well as there would have been a background for the Ministry of Industry to draw up the laws in this field.”

The Secretary of the Association of Importers of New and Second-hand Printing and Packaging Machinery, also referring to the indeterminacy of the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade on the permission to import printing machines, said, “The status quo is not so appropriate, and I believe a solution should be foreseen for the problems as soon as possible so that the owners of print houses and those who have paid a lot of money to purchase machinery to get out of the indeterminate condition.”

Since October this year, after an agreement was signed between the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade, the permission to import printing machinery and the industrial categories of printing was assigned to the Ministry of Industry.”