Curran Clare: Trade Marks (International Treaties and Enforcement) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Curran Clare: Trade Marks (International Treaties and Enforcement) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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CLARE CURRAN (Labour—Dunedin South) 
: 
 I would like to take another call on the Trade Marks (International Treaties and Enforcement) Amendment Bill. One of the most important things about the impact of this bill apart from stamping down on the illegal trafficking of materials and counterfeit merchandise into New Zealand is that it is about encouraging innovation. It is about taking legislation and trying to update and modernise it. That is a really important thing to do. I commend the Government on doing that and hope that all other legislation is treated in that vein. 
It is important that all Governments take the view that they do not know everything and that they can move with the times and learn a few things along the way. I note that the Minister in the chair the Minister of Commerce is shaking his head so I guess that means he disagrees with me and that he thinks he does know everything which is a pity because he does not and it would be a good thing to acknowledge that. 
The important thing about this bill is the extent of the problem. I think Pete Hodgson talked about the 260000 items that are being detained each year. I do not know when that figure was last updated but that is a lot of items. It could be that there are many many more items out there that could be detained. Prosecutions could be brought and the national enforcement unit could exercise its powers and become much more efficient. There would be the effect of stamping down on the illegal counterfeiting of goods and pirated works which is ultimately the intent of this bill. 
I would just like to say I guess from the industry’s point of view just exactly how industry is likely to benefit from the enforcement that will occur across the nation hopefully as a result of the bill. I think it is difficult to quantify the benefits which was acknowledged during the development of the bill. It was said that enforcement action by the national enforcement unit is expected to lead to a significant reduction in the manufacture importation and sale of counterfeits in New Zealand through that deterrent effect. We are talking about large numbers of items and the significant ability for people to make money out of them. That deterrent effect is really important. 
The reduction in the sale of counterfeits is likely to result in increased sales for rights-holders an increase in their profits from the New Zealand market and an increase in the reputation of the quality of the rights-holders’ goods. That is that important brand I was talking about. As Pete Hodgson has rightly said there can be a difficulty in determining the difference between the real bona fide brand and the counterfeit brand. It is extremely important that the manufacturers of those bona fide brands have the ability to reap the rewards and the profits from them rather than having to compete against those knock-off items as they have been described. 
Although the knock-off items might not look a lot different generally they are different and are of much poorer quality. We have also heard that in some cases there are personal health and safety risks associated with them. One of the memorable phrases from tonight is “exploding pyjamas”. I am not quite sure whether that was what was meant but it has certainly left an enduring visual memory in terms of the impact of those exploding pyjamas.