Export
Export quality packaging and printing from Pakistan
Packaging that has to survive a container, clear a customs check and land on a foreign shelf looking like it was made there. Substrates, inks and packing specified for the destination rather than for Lahore, and handed to your forwarder counted, documented and palletised.
Made in Lahore, specified for the destination
Al Ashar Printers
- Since 2017 Trading as a Lahore press
- Sample before production Nothing goes to plate unapproved
- Export-quality output Substrates and finishing to spec
- Pharma & food packaging Printed to your approved artwork
Materials and process
What export quality actually means
It is not a grade of board. It is a set of decisions made for a journey the pack has to survive and a market the printer will never see.
Substrate
Board is specified for the destination climate and the transit time, not the cheapest sheet that prints. Virgin-fibre boards where the buyer or the product requires them, moisture-resistant grades where a container will sit in a humid port, and the caliper checked against the dieline so the pack erects correctly on a filling line that is not ours.
Inks and coatings
Lightfast inks where the pack will sit under retail lighting for months. Low-migration ink systems specified where food or pharmaceutical contact requires them. Coatings chosen for rub resistance, because a pack that is handled through six warehouses arrives scuffed unless it was planned not to.
Colour held to a reference
An overseas brand owner cannot stand at the press. Colour is agreed on a physical proof before the run, the approved sample is retained, and the reprint six months later is matched to it rather than to memory.
Packing for transit
Counted, shrink-wrapped bundles in export-grade outer cartons, corner-protected and stretch-wrapped on the pallet. Moisture barrier where the route needs it. The pack is protected by the packing, not by hoping the container stays dry.
Identification
Every outer carton marked with the product, quantity, batch and carton number so a receiving warehouse can reconcile the shipment without opening it. Barcoded outers where your logistics system needs them.
Documentation
A commercial invoice and packing list that match the goods exactly, in the format your forwarder and the importing customs office expect. A mismatch between the paperwork and the pallet is the most common cause of a shipment being held.
Paperwork
Documents and Incoterms, in plain English
We are a printer, not a freight forwarder or a customs broker. What we do is prepare the goods and the seller’s documents correctly and hand both to yours — which is where most export problems either start or are avoided.
What we prepare as the seller
- Commercial invoice — description, quantity, unit and total value, HS code where you supply it, and the agreed Incoterm
- Packing list — carton count, contents per carton, gross and net weights, pallet dimensions
- Carton marks and labels to your specification, including any importer or destination markings
- Retained production samples and the approved proof, available to your quality team on request
Incoterms — which one you are buying on
The Incoterm decides where our responsibility ends and yours begins. The term that applies to your job is on your quotation; these are the four you will normally see.
| Term | Where our responsibility ends |
|---|---|
| EXW Ex Works | Goods are ready at our premises. You or your forwarder collect, and everything from our door onward — transport, export clearance, freight, insurance — is yours to arrange. |
| FCA Free Carrier | We deliver the goods, export-cleared, to a carrier or place you nominate — typically your forwarder’s Lahore warehouse or a nominated depot. |
| FOB Free on Board | We deliver the goods on board the vessel at the named port, export-cleared. Risk passes once loaded. Ocean freight and onward costs are yours. |
| CIF Cost, Insurance & Freight | We arrange and pay ocean freight and minimum insurance to the named destination port. Risk still passes at loading; import clearance and delivery beyond the port are yours. |
Where a term places freight or insurance with us, it is arranged through a forwarder and passed through at cost on the quotation. We do not carry freight risk ourselves and would rather say so than imply otherwise.
Regulated export
Pharmaceutical exporters: the §6.13 route
A drug registered for export only is exempt from the Drugs (Labelling and Packing) Rules, 1986, and may be labelled to the importing country’s requirements instead. That is DRAP Guideline §6.13, and it is the legal basis for producing a pack to a destination market’s rules rather than Pakistan’s.
The exemption is not total. The innermost container must still carry, conspicuously, the name of the drug, the manufacturer’s name and principal place of business, the batch number, and the dates of manufacture and expiry. For strips, blisters, small ampoules and printed tubes, those particulars — except the expiry date — may sit on the outer pack instead.
What that means at the press: send us the destination market’s labelling specification with your approved artwork and we produce to it, holding the §6.13 particulars on the innermost container. Regulatory responsibility for the content rests with you as the marketing authorisation holder; what we control is that the pack matches the artwork you approved, on every unit.
We print to the artwork you approve. Regulatory responsibility for label content rests with the marketing authorisation holder.
Dispatch
Freight and palletisation
The pallet is the last thing we build and the first thing the destination sees. It is specified, not improvised.
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01
Pallet specification
Pallet type and footprint agreed with your forwarder for the container and the destination — a Euro pallet does not suit every market, and a pallet that overhangs is refused at some ports. Where wooden pallets are used for export, they are specified as ISPM 15 heat-treated and stamped, which most importing countries require.
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02
Stacking and stability
Outer cartons column-stacked to a height the forwarder confirms, corner boards fitted, and the load stretch-wrapped so it arrives as one unit rather than as forty cartons.
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03
Container loading
Where we load the container, the pallets are braced and the count and seal number recorded on the packing list before the doors close.
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04
Handover
Goods and documents are handed to your nominated forwarder against a signed receipt, and we keep a copy. From that point your forwarder’s tracking is the record.
Services
What we export
- Packaging & boxes Mono cartons, rigid boxes, corrugated mailers, kraft, sleeves and window boxes — with structural…
- Offset printing Cartons, catalogues, brochures, labels and stationery. The right process above break-even quantity: lower unit…
- Labels & stickers Self-adhesive, roll, sheet, vinyl, transparent, hologram and barcode labels. Contour-cut to any shape, from…
Industries
Who exports with us
- Pharmaceutical Cartons, inserts, outserts and labels printed to your approved artwork, with the version control,…
- Food & beverage Food-grade substrates and inks, grease-resistant options, and structural designs that survive delivery rather than…
- Cosmetics & personal care Rigid boxes, soft-touch lamination, foiling and embossing — the finishes that decide whether a…
Questions
Questions about exporting
Anything not answered here, ask us directly — we would rather talk it through than have you guess.
Through your forwarder, or one we introduce. We are a printer: we make the goods, prepare the seller’s documents and hand both over palletised and counted. Freight, insurance and customs are handled by a forwarder, and where an Incoterm places those with us they are arranged through one and passed through at cost.
A commercial invoice and a packing list that match the goods exactly, carton marks to your specification, and retained samples with the approved proof if your quality team wants them. Anything the importing country requires beyond that — a certificate of origin, a specific declaration — tell us at quotation so it is planned rather than chased.
The one that suits your arrangement — it is stated on the quotation. EXW and FCA are the usual terms where you have your own forwarder; FOB and CIF where you want us to take the goods further. The section above explains where responsibility passes under each.
We produce to the specification you give us. For pharmaceutical packs registered for export only, DRAP Guideline §6.13 allows labelling to the importing country’s requirements, and we print to that artwork while holding the required particulars on the innermost container. Regulatory responsibility for the content stays with you as the marketing authorisation holder — see the DRAP guide.
Counted, shrink-wrapped bundles in export-grade outer cartons, corner boards, stretch-wrapped pallets built to a height your forwarder confirms, and a moisture barrier where the route needs one. Wooden pallets are specified as ISPM 15 heat-treated where they are used. The packing is designed for the journey, not added at the end.
Yes. A physical proof on the production substrate is couriered for approval, the approved sample is retained, and the run is matched to it. A reprint months later is matched to the same sample rather than to a screen or a memory.
It depends on the product and the process, the same as domestic work: offset becomes economical as the run lengthens, digital suits short runs. Freight economics usually favour filling a pallet or a container, so we will tell you where the sensible quantity breaks fall for your product.
Send us your artwork. We’ll quote today.
Quantity, size, substrate, colours and finishing — with those five details most jobs are quoted the same working day.
Or call 0327 2777728