The organisation is hoping to raise awareness of the issue of magazines being deliberately extracted from legitimate supply chains and then sold on in unauthorised environments including car boot sales, market stalls and via the internet.
The move follows a number of cases being brought to the attention of one of the PPA’s committees recently.
The organisation has responded by sending out copies of its 'Smart Guides', which advise on how to maintain the security of the magazine supply chain, to selected printers, finishers, forwarders, exporters, subscription houses, publishers and wholesalers.
Selected companies will also receive a poster to display in communal working areas that highlights the issue and encourages people to report any suspicious activity to the PPA in confidence.
The organisation’s technical services panel is leading these increased measures. COMAG chairman Steve Easton said: “The security of magazines is extremely important and the PPA is working together with publishers and the supply chain to ensure leaks are minimised.”
PPA head of circulation Anne Hogarth added: “The PPA is focused on protecting our members, as well as the wider supply chain, from threats such as this. Illegal magazine sales mean lost revenues and these measures are part of our continuing work to tackle this problem.”
