ACCORD Seminar
Members Dining Room 3
Old Parliament House, Canberra
Thursday 28 August 2008, 10.00am
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
Acknowledgements
- First, may I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we meet on – and pay my respects to their elders, both past and present.
Other Acknowledgements
- Introducing you – Bronwyn Capanna, Executive Director, ACCORD
- Chair – Craig Brock, Policy & Public Affairs Director, ACCORD
- Murray Taylor, National Coordinator Intellectual Property, AFP (also speaking in your session)
- Jim Stewart, Director Community Protection, Australian Customs Service (also speaking in your session)
- Ladies & gentlemen
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development published a report this year that gives a pretty clear picture on the extent of the financial damage caused by counterfeiting and piracy.
It estimated that in 2005, counterfeit and pirated goods could have accounted for up to 200 billion US dollars of internationally traded products.
It also stated that if the figure included domestically traded and digital products, then the total number could be several hundreds of billions more.
Obviously, counterfeiting and piracy are a huge global challenge and the increasing rates of these crimes have the potential to hit hard on creative industries, business, consumers and governments.
The Australian Government’s response to that challenge is based on strong intellectual property laws, which are made effective by an equally strong enforcement strategy.
The Australian Customs Service is at the forefront of protecting intellectual property (IP) rights with specific powers to deal with the importation of counterfeit and pirated goods.
In 2007-08 Customs made over 1200 seizures of more than 600,000 items.
An area of particular concern is the increase in goods that pose a risk to the health and safety of the public.
They include cosmetics, consumer goods, car parts, and food products.
In July this year Customs seized over 5,000 counterfeit motor vehicle parts, including oil filters and breakpads. Research conducted by industry has shown that often, the adhesive used on counterfeit brake pads is inferior and has the potential to fail under high temperatures or heavy braking.
Customs has also had reports of sunscreen labelled as 'SPF 30+' with no sun protection at all and exfoliating treatments which will burn the skin on contact.
Customs has also stepped up its enforcement capability by rolling out a new electronic IP reference system.
It means officers at the frontline have immediate access to information about goods which are protected under copyright and trademark legislation.
I’m sure Jim Stewart will have more to say about the work of Customs when he speaks to you shortly.
Likewise, when Murray Taylor speaks next, he’ll be talking about the work of the AFP.
While border enforcement is the first line of defence for IP – the AFP’s new IP Crime Strategy is essential to protecting IP within Australia’s borders.
The strategy was launched in June and is based on three principles – enforcement, partnerships and intelligence.
A National Co-ordinator is in place with industry and law enforcement liaison officers in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. They work with State and Territory police to raise awareness, support local enforcement strategies and highlight the link between the proceeds of IP crime and organised crime.
The AFP and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions have been given additional funding to investigate and prosecute IP crimes.
The result has been a substantial increase in enforcement activity and prosecutions in the past 12 months, targeting organisers, major importers and wholesalers.
Investigations and subsequent prosecutions rely on cooperation between law enforcement, prosecutors, government agencies and relevant IP industries, which play a key role in referrals.
In December last year, the AFP hosted the inaugural IP Law Enforcement Working Group meeting for all State and Territory police to plan future responses to IP crime.
In addition, cooperation between Government agencies has been strengthened through an Inter-Departmental Committee.
Another important dimension to the strategy is public awareness and training.
We must address public attitudes to counterfeiting and piracy and make sure that people are aware of the impact of IP crimes, which are often trivialised.
Most people who buy cheap DVD’s overseas don’t see it as a crime, which is why an AFP website was launched earlier this year to help Australian consumers recognise and reject counterfeit goods.
It’s also important to build cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. Earlier this year, the AFP appointed an Asia-Pacific IP Project Officer to build partnerships in the region and in June, hosted an IP Crime Workshop in Bangkok.
The Australian Government is also seeking effective IP enforcement and cooperation with other countries.
International forums such as APEC and our free trade agreement negotiations are examples of where this occurs.
In February, the Minister for Trade announced that Australia would participate in negotiations for a multilateral Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
In these negotiations, we’re seeking practical international standards to attract broad support.
I hope you now have a better picture of what the Australian Government is doing to tackle counterfeiting and piracy.
It takes strong partnerships to protect our industries, economy and consumers from fakes and frauds.
That’s why today’s seminar is so valuable.
I wish you all the best today and look forward to hearing the outcomes.
It’s now my pleasure to declare the 2008 Combating Counterfeit Products Briefing officially open.